Study of Some Long-Term Effects of Vasectomy in Khorram Abad City

Background: Vasectomy is a safe and effective method to prevent fertility. This method is practical in most regions, because it does not require complex technology. In spite of this, in some regions of Iran, It has not been approved because of the general believe that vasectomy causes impotence. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional research, 110 persons who were underwent vasectomy in Khorram Abad during 1999-2002 time period were studied. Variable parameters including libido, impotence, granuloma, ejaculation problems, joint pain, sleep disorder, chronic pain, surgery regret and surgical failure were considered. The required data were collected by questionnaire and physical exam. Findings: After necessary evaluation of the cases, it was found that 60% of individuals had not any libido variation and 30% had increased libido, 85.5% of them did not have impotence, 85.5% of them did not have granuloma, 90.9% of them did not have joint pain, 89.1% of them did not have ejaculation problems, 90% of them did not have mood disorder, 95.5% of them did not have sleep disorder and 80% of them did not have chronic pain in the site of surgery. 97.3% of them did not regret of vasectomy. Surgical failure was not seen in any cases. Conclusion: It was found that vasectomy is an effective and successful method to prevent fertility. In most cases it has not side effects such as libido reduction, impotence, granuloma formation, etc. A few cases of side effects may be due to other factors. For better evaluation of long-term effects of vasectomy, a case- control study is necessary.