During conscription, being over the weight limit, having unqualified blood pressure and heart conditions, and poor eyesight are common reasons for failing the physical examination. But did you know? Many people are also disqualified from military service examinations due to varicocele.
Don’t worry! With the advancement of medical technology, the issue of varicocele, causing exclusion from military service examinations, can be resolved with just a “minor needle prick,” assisting young men in realizing their military dreams.
What is varicocele?
Varicocele (VC) is a vascular condition characterized by the abnormal dilation, elongation, and tortuosity of the plexus of veins within the spermatic cord, leading to discomfort, reduced testicular function, and being a common cause of male infertility. It is of significant interest due to the associated scrotal discomfort, infertility, testicular atrophy, making it a common male genitourinary system disorder.
Varicocele is a vascular disorder that hinders sperm production caused by the enlargement of the veins surrounding the spermatic cord and plexus.
What causes varicocele?
Mainly, it is due to underdevelopment of the veins within the spermatic cord, including situations such as insufficient or defective venous valves and weaker smooth muscles in the plexus wall. These developmental abnormalities lead to blood stagnation in the veins, resulting in varicose veins.
How to detect varicocele?
1. When the condition is mild, there may not be apparent symptoms, sometimes only discovered incidentally during a checkup. Some men may also discover the disease due to difficulties in conceiving a child.
2. In cases of local pain, patients may experience swelling on the affected side of the scrotum, along with sensations of soreness, numbness, heaviness, and swelling, with lingering and subtle pain that can radiate from the scrotum to the lower abdomen and waist. Symptoms of primary varicocele exacerbate during walking, prolonged standing, or physical activities, and can alleviate or disappear after the appropriate rest in a supine position.
How is varicocele treated?
Clinically, varicocele is categorized into mild, moderate, and severe degrees. Severe varicocele generally requires surgical treatment. For mild to moderate varicocele accompanied by declining sperm quality, if conservative treatments do not improve sperm quality or relieve scrotal swelling and pain, then surgical intervention is often necessary. Early surgical intervention for older patients showing testicular atrophy and decreased sexual function can lead to effective improvements. For young individuals with aspirations for military service, varicocele can cause discomfort such as pain, hindering prolonged training, standing, or guard duty, necessitating surgical treatment as required.
Traditional surgery involves a groin incision, high ligation of internal spermatic veins, and excision of dilated veins within the scrotum. With the rapid advancement of minimally invasive interventional vascular techniques in vascular surgery, varicocele, a condition that greatly affects young men, has found new solutions at the Interventional Vascular Surgery Department of the Fourth Hospital of Changsha City.
Compared to traditional surgery, minimally invasive intervention can be performed under local anesthesia, with less postoperative pain, faster recovery, fewer complications, no surgical scars; additionally, interventional technology allows for precise understanding of vascular structure, selecting the most suitable site for embolization, resulting in higher treatment success rates.
Contributed by: He Jianfeng, Lan Wanting
First Reviewer: Xu Shunchi
Second Reviewer: Li Jianguo
Third Reviewer: Ji Na
Editing and Publishing: Publicity Department
