Even if you do not have sperm cells in the sperm sample, you may well have sperm in your testicles. In some cases, it may therefore be possible to aspirate the sperm cells directly from the testicle by means of TESA. Contact our experienced fertility specialists to learn more about your options.
The reasons for a lack of sperm cells in the sperm sample may be previous sterilisation, blocked sperm duct, severely reduced sperm production or no sperm production at all.
Read more about reduced sperm quality
The prerequisite for performing a TESA is that you have been examined for the cause of the lack of sperm cells in the sperm sample and that there is a chance of obtaining sperm cells through sperm aspiration.
TESA is normally performed during the woman’s current treatment cycle, either on the day before the egg retrieval or on the actual egg retrieval day. Once the eggs have been retrieved, we fertilise them using the ICSI method, which means that a single sperm cell is helped into the egg with a thin pipette.
TESA is a brief intervention. Local anaesthesia is given initially, and, when it begins to work, the doctor uses a thin needle to take a small tissue sample, which the laboratory staff immediately examines.
Afterwards, you rest for 15-30 min. in the fertility clinic.
You may experience some testicular tenderness when the anaesthesia wears off. The discomfort may be relieved with paracetamol (Panodil, Pinex or Pamol) and NSAID (Ipren, Brufen, Voltaren or the like). If you experience severe pain, heavy testicular swelling and/or fever, you should contact the fertility clinic, your own doctor or the emergency medical service on 1813.
There will be a risk that we will not find any sperm cells that we can use. Therefore, we would ask you to consider using donor sperm as an alternative.
