Microsurgical denervation of rat spermatic cord: safety and efficacy data. (May 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Laudano, Melissa A.; Osterberg, E. Charles; Sheth, Seema; Ramasamy, Ranjith; Sterling, Joshua; Mukherjee, Sushmita; Robinson, Brian D.; Parekattil, Sijo; Goldstein, Marc; Schlegel, Peter N.; Li, Philip S.
• Is Part Of: BJU international. Volume 113:Number 5(2014:May)
• Page Start: 795
• Page End: 800
• Publication Date: 2014-05
• Subjects: Genitourinary organs -- Diseases -- Periodicals; Genitourinary organs -- Surgery -- Periodicals; Urology -- Periodicals; 616.6
• DOI: 10.1111/bju.12421
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1464-4096

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main"> <title> <x xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <sec id="bju12421-sec-0001" sec-type="section"> <title>Objective</title> <p> <list id="bju12421-list-0001" list-type="bullet"> <list-item> <p>To describe a microsurgical technique for denervation of the spermatic cord and use of multiphoton microscopy (MPM) laser to identify and ablate residual nerves after microsurgical denervation.</p> </list-item> <list-item> <p>To evaluate structural and functional changes in the rat testis and vas deferens after denervation.</p> </list-item> </list> </p> </sec> <sec id="bju12421-sec-0002" sec-type="section"> <title>Materials and Methods</title> <p> <list id="bju12421-list-0002" list-type="bullet"> <list-item> <p>Nine Sprague‐Dawley rats were divided into three experimental groups: sham, microsurgical denervation of the spermatic cord (MDSC), and MDSC immediately followed by laser ablation with MPM.</p> </list-item> <list-item> <p>At 2 months after surgery, we assessed testicular volume, functional circulation of the testicular artery with Doppler, patency of the vas deferens, and histology of the testis and vas deferens.</p> </list-item> </list> </p> </sec> <sec id="bju12421-sec-0003" sec-type="section"> <title>Results</title> <p> <list id="bju12421-list-0003" list-type="bullet"> <list-item> <p>There was a significant decrease in the median number of nerves remaining around the vas deferens with MDSC alone (3.5 nerves) or MDSC with MPM (1.5 nerves) compared with sham rats (15.5 nerves) (<italic>P</italic> = 0.003).</p> </list-item> <list-item> <p>Although, MDSC with MPM resulted in the fewest remaining nerves, this result was similar to MDSC alone (<italic>P</italic> = 0.29).</p> </list-item> <list-item> <p>No deleterious effects on spermatogenesis or vas patency were seen in the experimental groups when compared with the sham rats.</p> </list-item> </list> </p> </sec> <sec id="bju12421-sec-0004" sec-type="section"> <title>Conclusion</title> <p> <list id="bju12421-list-0004" list-type="bullet"> <list-item> <p>A microsurgical approach can be used to effectively and safely denervate the rat spermatic cord with minimal changes to structure and function of the testis and vas deferens.</p> </list-item> <list-item> <p>MPM can be used as an adjunct to identify and ablate residual nerves after MDSC.</p> </list-item> </list> </p> </sec> </abstract>