Our Vasectomy Clinic provides expert surgery in a relaxed and comfortable environment. We offer a free 15-minute discovery call to help you decide if vasectomy is right for you, and if we are the team that you would like to choose for your procedure.
Our core aims are to provide technically excellent surgery, coupled with best-in-class patient experience.
We operate from a modern Minor Operations Suite at Blaydon Primary Care Centre, near Newcastle upon Tyne, conveniently located close to the A1 and also accessible from Hexham, Corbridge, Prudhoe, Gateshead, Sunderland, Durham, Morpeth and Middlesborough.
All procedures are carried out by Dr Fabricius, who qualified from the University of London in 2006. Mike is a member of both the Royal College of Surgeons and the Royal College of General Practitioners, and has many years of experience working in both hospital surgery and community settings.
You can read Mike’s brief biography here, or check out his unfiltered online reviews.
Vasectomy does not work immediately and you will need to continue to use contraception until your semen is free of sperm. You will be provided with a special postal collection kit to allow you to do the test from the privacy of your own home.
It’s a big decision to go for a vasectomy, most people will have lots of questions before deciding vasectomy is the right thing for them. We want you to be comfortable with your decision without needing to pay out for an expensive consultation, and we also think that it is important for you to be able to meet the surgeon who will do your procedure.
We offer a free 15-minute vasectomy discovery call to give you the chance to meet our surgeon Mike Fabricius, and to ask any questions that you may have about the process. We ask the all patients book in for a call before booking their procedure.
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All the common questions we are asked by patients who come for a no-scalpel vasectomy.
Please shower on the morning of your surgery, and avoid alcohol prior to your procedure. It is fine to eat and drink as normal before coming in.
We recommend shaving or trimming the hair on your scrotum.
If you are a smoker, stopping smoking is advised.
The surgeon will inject a small amount of local anaesthetic into the skin of the scrotum, and also around the internal tubes where he will be working (the vas). This may sting momentarily, but is very well-tolerated by most people.
Once the local anaesthetic has taken effect, there should be no pain or sharp sensations. If you feel discomfort at any point, please inform the surgical team who will give you some extra local anaesthetic. We aim for this to be a completely pain-free procedure.
The procedure usually takes around 20 minutes. A section from each vas is removed, and the remaining ends of the tubes are sealed. They are then buried away from each other using a technique called fascial interposition.
You will have one dissolving stitch in the skin, which should drop out after 1-2 weeks. You will be asked to put on the clean, tight underwear which you have brought with you, and some packing gauze will be put inside your underwear.
The local anaesthetic will wear off after around 2-4 hours. It is advisable to take some paracetamol after your procedure is finished. You may want to take regular paracetamol (1 gram four times daily) for the first few days, and ibuprofen can be taken if any additional painkillers are required.
We suggest that you wear tight and supportive underwear, day and night, for the first few days. A second pair of boxer shorts can be helpful if your underwear is not supportive enough.
You may find an ice-pack or a bag of frozen peas is helpful in reducing scrotal pain and swelling in the first few days. The icepack should not be applied directly to the skin, and for a maximum of twenty minutes at a time.
If you have swelling, bruising or pain which is getting progressively worse, please contact us using the details which you will be given after your procedure.
Try to minimise physical exertion over the first few days, although if you have a desk based job, you may be able to return to work. Most people are able to resume normal levels of physical and sexual activity after one week, but it is important to listen to your body and only do what is comfortable.
The vasectomy is not effective immediately, and it is important that you continue to use contraception. There will still be many sperm which were downstream of the cuts in the tubes, which need to make their way out.
You will receive a semen sample kit through the post, 16 weeks after your procedure. The kit comes with instructions.
It is important that you have ejaculated a minimum of 20 times in the 16 weeks, but if you have ejaculated more than that, there is a higher chance of having a negative sample at the first attempt. Ejaculating 2-3 times a week would give a high chance of a negative first sample.
If the first sample contains any residual sperm, you will be asked to repeat the sample in a further 6 weeks’ time. If small numbers of sperm persist after this, the surgeon will consult with you to discuss what will happen next.
Vasectomy is a safe operation and commonly performed procedure. All operations have a small risk of side effects, such as pain, bleeding and infection. We want you to feel well informed about this procedure and fully understand the risks and benefits of this surgery.
Local anaesthesia – Serious problems are uncommon with local anaesthesia. Risks cannot be removed completely, but modern drugs have made it a much safer procedure in recent years.
Very common and common side effects – Pain during injection of drugs, mild swelling and tenderness lasting a few days after the procedure.
Blood in the semen (up to 1 in 2) – is common but resolves after a small number of ejaculations.
Rare or very rare complications (1 in 10,000 or 1 in 100,000) – Allergy to drugs, significant nerve damage, testicular damage or atrophy, death, equipment failure.
Bleeding – Minor bleeding will occur at the operation site. This will be managed by the surgeon at the time. Once the procedure is completed a dressing will be applied to the wound and some packing placed in the underwear. This will reduce the chance of bleeding or bruising.
Infection (<1 in 20) – Infection of the surgical wound, or the testicle and tubes (epididymo-orchitis) may require antibiotics.
Significant bruising and scrotal swelling (<1 in 20) – On rare occasions severe scrotal haematoma may require surgical drainage.
Chronic Pain (<1 in 20) – Studies have reported varying rates of less than 1%, and up to 15%; with various lengths of follow-up.
Early Failure (1 in 250) – On rare occasions the tubes may rejoin shortly after the procedure, or there may be an unidentified duplication of the vas deferens on one side. The post-operative semen sample would show persistent motile sperm in the semen.
Late Failure (<1 in 2000) – On very rare occasions, the cut ends of the vas may rejoin at a later date, resulting in the return of fertility and potentially an unplanned pregnancy.
