Does Varicocele Repair Improve Conventional Semen Parameters? A Meta-Analytic Study of Before-After Data
Purpose: The purpose of this meta-analysis is to study the impact of varicocele repair in the largest cohort of infertile males with clinical varicocele by including all available studies, with no language restrictions, comparing intra-person conventional semen parameters before and after the repa...
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Korean Society for Sexual Medicine and Andrology
2024-01-01
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Series: | The World Journal of Men's Health |
Subjects: |
Summary: | Purpose: The purpose of this meta-analysis is to study the impact of varicocele repair in the largest cohort of infertile males
with clinical varicocele by including all available studies, with no language restrictions, comparing intra-person conventional
semen parameters before and after the repair of varicoceles.
Materials and Methods: The meta-analysis was performed according to PRISMA-P and MOOSE guidelines. A systematic
search was performed in Scopus, PubMed, Cochrane, and Embase databases. Eligible studies were selected according to the
PICOS model (Population: infertile male patients with clinical varicocele; Intervention: varicocele repair; Comparison: intraperson
before-after varicocele repair; Outcome: conventional semen parameters; Study type: randomized controlled trials
[RCTs], observational and case-control studies).
Results: Out of 1,632 screened abstracts, 351 articles (23 RCTs, 292 observational, and 36 case-control studies) were included
in the quantitative analysis. The before-and-after analysis showed significant improvements in all semen parameters after
varicocele repair (except sperm vitality); semen volume: standardized mean difference (SMD) 0.203, 95% CI: 0.129–0.278;
p<0.001; I2=83.62%, Egger’s p=0.3329; sperm concentration: SMD 1.590, 95% CI: 1.474–1.706; p<0.001; I2=97.86%,
Egger’s p<0.0001; total sperm count: SMD 1.824, 95% CI: 1.526–2.121; p<0.001; I2=97.88%, Egger’s p=0.0063; total
motile sperm count: SMD 1.643, 95% CI: 1.318–1.968; p<0.001; I2=98.65%, Egger’s p=0.0003; progressive sperm motility:
SMD 1.845, 95% CI: 1.537%–2.153%; p<0.001; I2=98.97%, Egger’s p<0.0001; total sperm motility: SMD 1.613, 95%
CI: 1.467%–1.759%; p<0.001; I2=97.98%, Egger’s p<0.001; sperm morphology: SMD 1.066, 95% CI: 0.992%–1.211%;
p<0.001; I2=97.87%, Egger’s p=0.1864.
Conclusions: The current meta-analysis is the largest to date using paired analysis on varicocele patients. In the current metaanalysis,
almost all conventional semen parameters improved significantly following varicocele repair in infertile patients
with clinical varicocele. |
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ISSN: | 2287-4208 2287-4690 |