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Reversal Of Vasectomy, Swollen Testicle, Oozing From Stitches, Testicle Pain. Is Everything Okay?

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Posted on Sun, 10 Jun 2012
Question: Hello. I am 38 years old, 6' tall, 180 lbs and generally very healthy. I exercise regularly and try to eat well. About 5 years ago I had a vasectomy but after a divorce and re-marriage I decided to have it reversed and try for a child with my new wife. I had it reversed on Oct 7th, 2011 (about 1.5 weeks ago). I opted to remain awake during the procedure, because of this I was able to know pretty much exactly how the surgery went. I went to a well known and respected urologist. The procedure took him longer than expected due to complications on my right vas tube from my right testicle. He had the left side done in about 40 min, the right took him about twice that. We were speaking through the whole surgery (my doctor is very friendly). He told me during the surgery that the left side was great and he saw positive signs of success due to good fluid in the vas tube, etc. - The right side was more difficult because there was so much scar tissue in the vas tube from the original vasectomy. He had to cut it back close to the testicle before he was able to get past the scar tissue to sow the tubes back together. He was able at last to stitch them back together successfully. He sutured them more than normal due to the difficulty but he assured me that he was very stilled at this. Even in spite of the difficulty, my doctor felt the operation was successful and was pleased. He told me to go home and just relax for a few days. Later at home (about 3 hours later) I was feeling a lot of pressure. When I stood up, blood ran down my legs. I went to the bathroom and removed my clothing. I lost about 1/2 cup of blood and then the bleeding stopped. The blood was coming from my stitches on the right side where he had the difficulty. By now, my scrotum was roughly the size of a cantaloupe (huge). My wife called the ambulance but my doctor called me back after a few min. When I told him what happened, he asked me some questions and basically told me everything was going to be fine and not to go to the hospital as long as the bleeding stopped. When the paramedics arrived, they made sure my stitches were all intact then I sent them away. I spoke to my doctor on the phone the next morning with concerns about the size of my scrotum, he said that it is full of blood and it probably came from the right side that gave him a hard time. He told me that my body would eventually take care of itself and naturally absorb the blood internally. He also said after a couple of days to start to apply heat to it to help the process. He said that he could put a drain in but my blood was probably turning into more of a jelly and probably would not come out of the drain well, he also thought it was not worth the increased risk of infection that a drain would present. After a couple more days, my pain level was still pretty high so I saw the doctor in his office 5 days after surgery. He said this was all pretty normal and looked good. He made sure I had enough lortab. I saw him again 2 days later on my 1 week follow up, he said it looked good (this was last Friday) but because I was running a slight fever at night he put me on amoxicillin in case of infection. Yesterday I did some push-ups in the morning and started bleeding again and it trickled on through the day. I was also still having a decent amount of pain in my right testicle. I talked to my doctor again, he asked me some questions about the thickness if the blood/fluid and concluded that everything is just fine. So here I am wanting a second opinion. My doctor is a great guy and has a good reputation but has not always done a great job of helping me know what to expect. But when something does come up his answer in the end is always that everything is fine. Currently on the positive side, the size of my scrotum has gone down considerably, my color is much better and pain in my scrotum in generally better. On the negative side, my right testicle is still at least 3 times the size of my left (my doctor attributes this to the more extensive procedure on the right side), I still have very slight oozing from right stitches and I still have significant pain from/in my right testicle. I am only comfortable when laying down with a heating pad on it. My doctor says this will pass and could take more like 4 weeks plus before I am feeling normal. I am now 11 days since the surgery. I keep thinking about horror stories I have heard about men loosing a testicle and don't want that to be me. To the best of your knowledge do you think my doctor/surgeon is right and everything is most likely ok or is any of what I told you reason to be further concerned? Thank you - XXXXXXX
doctor
Answered by Dr. Dr. Rakhi Tayal (5 hours later)
Hello,

Thanks for posting your query.

Based on the description provided by you - which is rather exhaustive and accurate, I feel that you have suffered a hemorrhage secondary to the tissue handling on the right side. In some cases where there is extensive scarring, there is considerable tissue damage while removing the adhesions. This tissue injury might show oozing later on whenever there is slight pressure.
The symptoms you are having right now are not very worrisome considering the extensive surgery you had to go through. Such tissue damage may take upto 4-6 weeks to heal by itself.
You need worry about the worst consequences. You are in the hands of a good surgeon. You need to wait and watch your daily improvement.
Maintain a good hygiene and do not stress your abdominal muscles for at least two more weeks- no cough or constipation, no exercise or running up the stairs.
Continue doing hot fomentation. Do not massage on the scrotum or anywhere near your stitch line.
Avoid any sexual activity till full recovery.
Definitely I would reassure you saying that you will recover soon without any major hassles now. Do not worry.

Hope this answers your query. I will be glad to answer the follow up queries that you have.

Regards.



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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Raju A.T
doctor
Answered by
Dr.
Dr. Dr. Rakhi Tayal

OBGYN

Practicing since :2001

Answered : 14043 Questions

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Reversal Of Vasectomy, Swollen Testicle, Oozing From Stitches, Testicle Pain. Is Everything Okay?

Hello,

Thanks for posting your query.

Based on the description provided by you - which is rather exhaustive and accurate, I feel that you have suffered a hemorrhage secondary to the tissue handling on the right side. In some cases where there is extensive scarring, there is considerable tissue damage while removing the adhesions. This tissue injury might show oozing later on whenever there is slight pressure.
The symptoms you are having right now are not very worrisome considering the extensive surgery you had to go through. Such tissue damage may take upto 4-6 weeks to heal by itself.
You need worry about the worst consequences. You are in the hands of a good surgeon. You need to wait and watch your daily improvement.
Maintain a good hygiene and do not stress your abdominal muscles for at least two more weeks- no cough or constipation, no exercise or running up the stairs.
Continue doing hot fomentation. Do not massage on the scrotum or anywhere near your stitch line.
Avoid any sexual activity till full recovery.
Definitely I would reassure you saying that you will recover soon without any major hassles now. Do not worry.

Hope this answers your query. I will be glad to answer the follow up queries that you have.

Regards.