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Docs Slash World-Record Vasectomy Reversal Time, Thanks to Nutty Robots

by Amar Toor on January 13, 2010 at 07:25 AM

Some things in life were made to be done quickly -- the 100-meter dash, 'Dance Dance Revolution,' and the blog post, to name a few. Please notice that a vasectomy reversal is not on that list.

Doctors at the University of Florida, though, have broken the record for the world's fastest robotic vasectomy reversal, an achievement that some experts are heralding as a breakthrough and others are dismissing as flagrantly frivolous. The university, in a statement, said that "the findings... represent the first head-to-head comparison of robot vasectomy reversal and the microscope procedure that is widely used." University of New Mexico's Dr. Wayne Kuang was downright laudatory in his praise -- if somewhat clumsy in his choice of words -- calling the technique "state of the art stuff" and "cutting edge" (wince).

As The Register reports, though, many doctors don't find much value in the mechanized procedure, which they consider exorbitantly expensive and of no long-term superiority. Sperm counts have been shown to rebound faster after robotic surgeries than they do after manual operations, but patients rewired by hand eventually reach comparable levels of potency -- just over a longer time period. Dr. Sijo Parekattil, creator of the technique and, apparently something of a "baller" within the world of robotic infertility microsurgery, defends his innovation fiercely. Parekattil claims that his procedure not only gets the job done more quickly, but provides "less discomfort for some surgeons who would otherwise stand or sit with their backs bent for extended periods over a microscope."

We're not sure the chiropractic health of our surgeon would exactly be the primary thing on our minds if we ever had anyone go all Bob Vila on our nether regions. Maybe the procedure really is more effective and efficient. But when it comes to the family jewels, we'd prefer a gently handled toothbrush over a rock tumbler. [From: The Register, via: FARK]

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Tags: dr wayne kuang, DrWayneKuang, health, robots, surgery, top, university of florida, UniversityOfFlorida, vasectomy

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