TESA

Many men are unable to ejaculate any sperm due to damaged tubes in their testicles or some other genetic problem and hence need a surgical sperm collection technique to enable intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) for in-vitro fertilization (IVF) to father a child. Testicular sperm aspiration (TESA) is a common IVF reproductive technology used to surgically collect sperm. However, the nature of infertility that a man suffers from should be carefully determined before choosing this kind of method and only after proper tests are conducted, should the surgical sperm collection procedure be pursued. The TESA procedure uses a needle connected to a syringe that is sent into the testicle through the scrotum to collect the fluid.

Patients suffer blockage in the epididymis close to the testis either due to a surgery, an infection or one carried over from birth while others may suffer a blockage within the ducts of the testes. The extraction of testicular sperm is recommended for such patients after proper examination. The process is simple and doesn’t take long since many patients have ‘pockets’ of sperm producing tissue within their testicles. Our TESA success rates are high and our method is therefore able to pick up such ‘pockets’ of tissue more efficiently than the older technique of open testicular biopsy. The process proves why the sperm need not mature to pass through the epididymis in order to fertilize an egg. However, such testicular sperm need ICSI to cover up their lack of maturity as it is important for egg fertilization.

The TESA procedure cost in India is quite reasonable and the process is also smooth and easy for the patient who doesn’t feel any discomfort even as the fine needle goes into his testes since it is done under local anesthesia or sedation. The choice of local anesthesia or sedation depends on the patient’s mental and physical conditioning. The fine needle is inserted into the testes to extract the tissues containing sperms. We then test the extracted sperms in our laboratory before setting them up for washing. Our TESA experts then select the most motile and dynamic sperm for the process of insemination that eventually leads to fertilization of the egg. We sometimes recommend a diagnostic TESA procedure around three months before the planned IVF/ICSI treatment cycle. If we are able to recover the motile sperm during this exercise we go on to freeze the sperm and save you a repeat procedure.