Publications

Below are short overviews of published papers where the data as been gained from ASPC members and their yearly submitted audits The full article and abstract for each can be found in the Members-only area under ASPC PUBLICATIONS

2025

Remember Vasectomy – Challenges and Successes
One small snip for mankind: A Personal view
Gareth James, Melanie Atkinson.
BMJ Sex Reprod Health 2025;0:1–3. doi:10.1136/bmjsrh-2024-202431

The FSRH, SRH services, General Practice, the media, and the wider public need to better promote and champion vasectomy as a cost-effective contraception allowing men to control their own fertility. Women should also be better informed about vasectomy as a potential choice during discussions on contraceptive planning. However, empowering men to take responsibility is pointless if accurate data is not collected (as discussed in the article), to inform fairer geographical provision, services are not commissioned, or potential vasectomy providers reject new contracts for their lack of fair remuneration.

 

2024

Complications of vasectomy: results from a prospective audit of 105,393 procedures

J. Peacock, G. James, M. Atkinson, J. Henderson

British journal Urology International Volume 134, Issue 5 November 2024 Pages 789-795

Vasectomy is the most reliable form of male contraception. Prior to 2020, over 11,000 vasectomies were performed annually in the UK, the majority in primary care via the minimally invasive vasectomy technique. It is vital to pre-operatively counsel men thoroughly regarding potential complications post vasectomy, though the large series which forms the basis of this counselling date from at least 30 years ago. Refinements in surgical technique and equipment mandate contemporaneous data upon which to base present pre-operative counselling. The aim of this review is to provide up-to-date vasectomy complication rates from a dataset collected over 15 years. Data from 105,393 vasectomies was collected, performed by over 150 community surgeons. Early failure rates were available for 69,500 patients, occurring in 648 patients (0.93%). Of 99,124 patients, late failure occurred in 41 (0.04%). Of 102,549 vasectomies, post-operative infection was reported in 1250 patients (1.22%), haematoma in 1599 patients (1.56%) and PVPS in 139 patients (0.14%). Conclusions: Vasectomy remains a safe and reliable contraceptive method. Rates of complication were generally lower than those previously published by major urological organisations. This large, prospective audit provides accurate, contemporaneous complication rates which can inform future pre-vasectomy counselling

 

2023 

Risk of Post-Vasectomy Infections: Audits of 133,044 Vasectomies from Large Vasectomy Practices in Canada, Colombia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom

Samuel Lawton, Alison Hoover, Gareth James, Simon Snook, Diana Soraya Torres Quiroz, Michel Labrecque

International Brazilian Journal of Urology : Vol. 49 (4): 490-500, July - August, 2023 doi: 10.1590/S1677-5538.IBJU.2023.0143

To estimate the risk of post-vasectomy infection in various settings and across various surgical techniques and sanitization practices, through a retrospective review of the records of 133,044 vasectomized patients from four large practices/network of practices using No-Scalpel Vasectomy (NSV) in Canada (2011-2021), Colombia (2015-2020), New Zealand (2018-2021), and from the ASPC in the UK (2006-2019). Conclusions: The risk of infection after vasectomy is low (about 1%) among international high-volume vasectomy practices performing NSV and various recommended occlusion techniques. Apart from vasectomy occlusion technique, no other factor clearly modified the risk of post-vasectomy infection.

 

2022

Comparison of postal and non- postal post- vasectomy semen sample submission strategies on compliance and failures: an 11- year analysis of the audit database of the Association of Surgeons in Primary Care of the UK 

Melanie Atkinson, Gareth James, Katie Bond, Zoe Harcombe, Michel Labrecque 

 BMJ Sex Reproductive and Health 2022 Jan;48(1):54-59. doi: 10.1136/bmjsrh-2021-201064. Epub 2021 Jul 28. 

We evaluated how the choice of either a postal or non- postal PVSA submission strategy was associated with compliance to PVSA and effectiveness of vasectomy.  Conclusions: Postal strategy significantly increased compliance to PVSA with similar failure detection rates. This resulted in more individuals receiving clearance or early failure because of the greater percentage of postal samples submitted. Postal strategy warrants inclusion in any future guidelines as a reliable and convenient option.