Vasovasostomy: evaluation of four surgical techniques.

Four techniques of vasovasostomy were evaluated in two groups of twelve dogs each. In group 1, one side was anastomosed by a standard technique over a Silastic stent and the other side was anastomosed using a two-layer microsurgical technique. In group 2, one side was anastomosed by a standard technique without a stent and the other side was anastomosed using a one-layer microsurgical technique. Patency was evaluated by methylene blue injection distal to the anastomosis and was found to be about the same for all three groups in which anastomosis was performed without stents. The stented group had a high rate of obstruction. Histologic evaluation, however, showed superiority of both microsurgical techniques over each of the stnadard procedures.