Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Jan 23;12(6):qfae094.
doi: 10.1093/sexmed/qfae094. eCollection 2024 Dec.

Definition of a European pre-vasectomy scoring system to identify patients at risk of vasectomy regret

Amandine Degraeve  1   2 , Lorenzo Tosco  3 , Bertrand Tombal  2 , Thierry Roumeguere  3 , Jeanne Beirnaert  3 , Robin Hamal  2 , Céline Bugli  4 , Marco Cosentino  5 , Lee Wai Gin Don  6 , Marta Skrodzka  7 , Maarten Albersen  8 , Koenraad van Renterghem  9 , Maxime Sempels  10 , David Penning  11 , Mikkel Fode  12 , Antoine Faix  13 , Marjan Waterloos  14 , Borja Garcia Gomez  15 , Damien Carnicelli  16 , Jean-Pierre Graziana  17 , Afonso Morgado  18 , Kathleen D'Hauwers  19 , Ege Serefoglu  20 , Celeste Manfredi  21 , Emmanuel Weyne  22 , Jack Beck  23 , Daniar Osmonov  24 , Chris Roller  25 , Ludovic Ferreti  26 , Giogio Russo  27 , Faysal A Yafi  28 , Beatrice Cuzin  29 , François-Xavier Madec  30   31   32 , Geoffroy Vanoverschelde  33 , François Hervé  34 , Eric Chung  35 , Ulla Nordström  36 , Andrea Cocci  37 , Rawad Abou Zahr  2 , François Triffaux  10 , Minhas Suks  38 , Hussain Alnajjar  6 , Julien Van Damme  2 , Sam Ward  33
Affiliations

Definition of a European pre-vasectomy scoring system to identify patients at risk of vasectomy regret

Amandine Degraeve et al. Sex Med. .

Abstract

Introduction: Vasectomy is a widely used, safe, effective method of permanent contraception and contributes to healthy sexuality.

Aims: We have conducted a 3-step observational clinical study to develop a vasectomy regret risk score and guide patients and clinicians when discussing a vasectomy.

Methods: A 3-step approach has been followed. First, experts involved in male health have proposed risk factors for regret (remorse) after vasectomy, defined by a vasectomy reversal surgery or medically assisted reproduction. The selected factors were evaluated in 1200 patients vasectomized in the last 15 years. Finally, the expert panel has constructed a score for predicting regret after vasectomy.

Results: Fifty-two international experts identified 17 risk factors for vasectomy regret. Five of the risk factors were significant: an age <35 years old, a high Barrat Impulsivity Score, a low level of education, and a patient who didn't understand that the vasectomy might not be reversible or for whom the contraception responsibility is ideally feminine, or no responsible partner. On multivariate analysis, 3 risk factors and 2 "sine qua non" conditions were used to build the decision algorithm. A risk score ≥ 4 required information on sperm cryopreservation before vasectomy, and those with a risk score ≥ 7 required extra time for reflection. The scoring system was proposed to 52 international experts and accepted with 86.7% strongly agreeing. The model's sensitivity and specificity were 0.98 and 0.53, respectively.

Conclusion: A decisional algorithm was established to identify patients requiring information on sperm cryopreservation before vasectomy or additional time for reflection to reduce the risk of vasectomy regret. The algorithm contains 3 risk factors and 2 "sine qua non" conditions.

Keywords: male contraception; male fertility; reflection time; regret risk factors; scoring system; semen cryopreservation; vasectomy.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Age at the time of vasectomy and regret (individual value and logistic regression).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Logistic regression mode—multivariate analysis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Abbe CR, Page ST, Thirumalai A. Male contraception. Yale J Biol Med. 2020;93(4):603–613 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Jamieson DJ, Costello C, Trussell J, Hillis SD, Marchbanks PA, Peterson HB. The risk of pregnancy after vasectomy. Obstet Gynecol. 2004;103(5, Part 1):848–850. 10.1097/01.AOG.0000123246.11511.e4 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Dohle GR, Diemer T, Kopa Z, et al. . European Association of Urology guidelines on vasectomy. Eur Urol. 2012;61(1):159–163. 10.1016/j.eururo.2011.10.001 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Fainberg J, Kashanian JA. Vasectomy. Vasectomy Jama. 2018;319(23):2450. 10.1001/jama.2018.6514 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Auyeung AB, Almejally A, Alsaggar F, Doyle F. Incidence of post-vasectomy pain: systematic review and meta-analysis. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020;17(5):1788. 10.3390/ijerph17051788 - DOI - PMC - PubMed