In 2010, we repeated the survey of 2005/2006 with a slight modification. Here are the results of that survey:
| Since your vasectomy, how have the following changed? | Much Less | Slightly Less | No Change | Slightly More | Much More |
| Sex Drive (Libido) | 1% | 6% | 75% | 15% | 4% |
| Ability to obtain and maintain erections | 1% | 6% | 89% | 5% | 0 |
| Rigidity (stiffness) of erections | 1% | 5% | 87% | 6% | 1% |
| Strength of orgasm (climax) sensation | 0 | 3% | 88% | 6% | 4% |
| Semen volume (the amount of fluid that comes out when you ejaculate) | 0 | 16% | 75% | 7% | 2% |
108 men responded to the survey. The table about lists the percentage responses to the questions about sex drive, libido, erections, etc. We also asked all the men about chronic pain.
| Yes | No | |
| Some men have scrotal or testicular pain in the month after vasectomy. For most men, there is no lingering pain of any sort. Do you still have any pain in the scrotum, testicles or surrounding areas during or after sex or after physical activity that was not present before your vasectomy? | 5 men | 103 men |
| Overall, are you happy that you had a vasectomy | 107 men | 1 man |
Six patients initially responded “yes” to the question about persistent post-vasectomy pain:
- Patient #100 provided his name. When we called to ask about his “Yes” response to the pain question, he denied having any pain at all and said that he had answered the question in error, so we decreased the number of Yes responses to 5.
- Patient #106 provided his name. When we called to ask about his “Yes” response to the pain question, he said that he had had some discomfort just before ejaculation, but that it was “90% gone” as of 10/27/10, and that he is happy with the vasectomy and wants to be on our referral list.
- Patient #61 did not provide his name so we could not inquire about his “Yes” response to the pain question. But in his survey, he indicated that he is happy with his vasectomy and that he would have had it sooner if he had known as much before the vasectomy as he did afterwards.
- Patient #93 did not provide his name so we could not inquire about his “Yes” response to the pain question. But in his survey, he indicated that he is happy with his vasectomy.
- Patient #95 did not provide his name so we could not inquire about his “Yes” response to the pain question. In his survey, he did not answer the question about whether he is happy that he had had a vasectomy.
- Patient #108 did not provide his name so we could not inquire about his “Yes” response to the pain question. But in his survey, he indicated that he is happy with his vasectomy, and he added “Excellent service”, in the comments section.
- So one identified man answered “Yes” to pain in error, and 3 of 4 anonymous men who answered “Yes” to pain said they were happy that they had had a vasectomy. No men who answered “Yes” to pain indicated that they were not happy that they had had a vasectomy. Could there be cases of chronic post-vasectomy pain among the 292 men who did not return their surveys? Yes, but our letter included an earnest plea to contact our office to be seen at no charge for any problems thought to be vasectomy-related.
Only one patient indicated that he was not happy that he had had a vasectomy. Patient #76 provided his name so we were able to contact him. He had had 8 children by 4 different partners. After his vasectomy he noticed that his sex drive was “Slightly less”, that his erectile function (ability and rigidity) was “Slightly less”, and that his semen volume was “Slightly less”.
| If you always knew as much as you know now about the vasectomy process … | Yes | No |
| … might you have had a vasectomy sooner? | 62% | 48% |
| … before the conception of your youngest child? | 3% | 97% |
We hope that this information will be useful to men as they determine whether or not to proceed with vasectomy.