Microsurgical testicular sperm extraction in infertile men assessed in Sweden

In Sweden, the County Councils are grouped into six healthcare regions to facilitate cooperation and to maintain a high level of advanced medical care. One of them is Västra Götaland County Council with its Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Center, which aimed to work for continuous development of knowledge-based care in the region and ensure that healthcare is supported by science and evaluation. Also, it should follow up on the development of evidence-based healthcare nationally and internationally.

In July 2019, Västra Götaland HTA-Centre has published an HTA report for effectiveness and safety of microsurgical testicular sperm extraction (TESE) in infertile men with non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA). The following conclusions were provided:

• In patients with NOA, micro-TESE compared with testicular sperm aspiration (TESA) may result in significantly higher sperm retrieval rate (low certainty of the evidence)
• In patients with NOA, it is uncertain whether there is any difference in complication rates for micro-TESE compared with TESA (low certainty of the evidence)
• There is a need for extensive high-quality studies comparing results of micro-TESE with TESA

See the full report in Swedish and English here.

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