How to follow up after spermatic varicocele?

  Three months is a spermatogenic cycle, so after varicocele surgery, patients need to be seen every three months for follow-up examinations to observe the recovery of semen, and generally speaking, significant changes can be seen at 6 to 9 months after surgery. Ultrasound is the most common test, which allows the patient to see the blood supply to the testes after surgery and to compare the volume of the testes with that before surgery to assess whether the testes are atrophied. Sex hormone and semen tests are used to observe the recovery of testicular function. The sex hormone test requires the patient to fast and have blood drawn from 8am to 12pm. Semen examination requires 3~5 days since the last semen emission (ejaculation, masturbation, semen loss) to ensure the quantity as well as quality of semen. Therefore, it is recommended that patients, how many days after the preoperative semen emission to do the test, the same day after surgery is chosen to do it. For example, if the preoperative semen test is the semen emission after four days of abstinence, then the fourth day after surgery is also chosen to masturbate to get semen. Generally speaking most of the tests can be done on the same day and get the results on the same day, only the hormone test may take the next day to get the results.  However, there are some tall and thin young patients with severe varicocele, which may be caused by “Nutcracker syndrome”, a disease in which the kidney blood vessels are squeezed.  Patients can scan the doctor’s QR code for post-visit check-in, so that they can continue their consultation with the doctor online. When checking in, patients will need to briefly describe their condition and upload their checklist. For patients with varicocele, the information to be uploaded includes ultrasound, sex hormones, and semen examination; the description of the disease should also pay attention to write down their symptoms clearly. 2-10% of the patients may have symptoms such as downward discomfort, but most of them do not actually feel this way. The presence or absence of this feeling also provides an important reference basis for the doctor’s guidance to you.