For treating obstructive azoospermia , a procedure called Percutaneous Sperm Aspiration , or PESA , is used to aspirate sperm from the epididymis. Sperm are located in the epididymis close to the testicle, before the blockage or obstruction in the reproductive tract. PESA is usually performed on the same day as the female partner's IVF egg retrieval. The PESA procedure is performed by an Urologist with experience in the treatment of male infertility. The PESA procedure usually requires 10-20 minutes to complete.
Intravenous sedation is given for patient comfort.
The patient recovers for 1-2 hours in a private recovery room within the Center for Reproductive Medicine. Patients may return to work the next day usually with little or no discomfort. The sperm obtained from PESA are injected into the female partner's eggs using the ICSI technique described above. Because only one sperm is required per egg with ICSI and many motile sperm are usually retrieved with PESA, there usually are some sperm remaining following the ICSI procedure. This sperm is frozen for use in future egg retrieval cycles in case the couple does not conceive in the first cycle or wishes to have additional children in the future.