The University Medical Center’s Department of Urology participated in the second annual World Vasectomy Day Nov. 7.
“As a department, the primary goal is not so much for there to be more vasectomies; [but] it’s really to spark conversation for men to get involved in family planning,” said Dr. Ryan Smith, an associate urology professor.
World Vasectomy Day was created to spread awareness about vasectomy as a mode of birth control and encourage patient to talk to their doctors about the procedure.
“Once men come and have a conversation with their doctor, they are a lot more comfortable about it — a lot of the men who do this end up having [a] vasectomy,” Smith said.
While vasectomies are only the fourth most commonly used form of birth control, they have certain advantages over other means of contraception.
“In terms of surgical sterilization, it’s much safer for a man to have a vasectomy than a woman to have a tubal ligation,” Smith said. “It’s also less costly ... [and] can be done with a local anesthetic, unlike tubal ligation.”
Vasectomies are less invasive than tubal ligations for women and complication rates for vasectomy are very low.
“The failure rate for the procedure is generally less than one percent, while the chance of pregnancy after a successful vasectomy is about one in two thousand,” Smith said.
Still, vasectomies tends to be an underutilized form of contraception, perhaps in part because of a lack of education about the procedure.
“I think a lot of men fear that it will affect their sexuality, so [there’s] a lack of awareness and education in general,” said Smith.
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