No-scalpel laser vasectomy in Taichung: surgery, recovery, semen test

In short

• Method: no scalpel, local anaesthesia, no hospital stay. Sedation (intravenous general anaesthesia, IVGA) by a specialist anaesthesiologist is an option.
• Time: the operation takes about 15 minutes. Plan about 1 hour in total (about 2 hours with sedation).
• Recovery: most people work the next day. No hard exercise or heavy lifting for 3 days. Sex after about 1 week.
• Who operates: Dr. Chao-An Chen (board-certified in urology and in surgery) or Dr. Kai-Wu Yang (urologist).
• Cost: self-paid. Costs are explained at the consultation. You can also ask about costs on LINE before you come.

A vasectomy does not protect you right away. The semen test decides.

1. Sperm are still stored in the tubes beyond the cut. They leave only with ejaculation.

2. Come back for a semen test when both are true: at least 3 months have passed, and you have ejaculated 15–20 times or more.

3. It counts only if there are no sperm at all. Until then, keep using other contraception.

4. If you do not come back for the test, it never counts as successful, however much time has passed.

5. Even after a clear result, about 1 in 2,000 men can still cause a pregnancy, because a tube joins up again by itself (recanalisation). If your partner later shows signs of pregnancy, come back for a semen test.

How it is arranged at this clinic

To book on LINE, write “assessment and surgery at the same visit”, with your name, mobile number, preferred date, time of day (morning, afternoon or evening) and doctor. If you are married, ask for the spouse consent form first; your spouse signs it and does not need to come. If you have diabetes, bring an HbA1c report from the last 3 months.

The operation

1. You lie on your back in a gown. Some pubic hair may be shaved. The skin is cleaned and covered with sterile drapes.
2. Local anaesthetic is injected in the middle of the scrotum. You stay awake and feel touch, but no pain. The injection stings for a few seconds; after that, most people feel only mild pulling.
3. Through one opening of about 0.5 cm, both tubes are brought out, and the artery of the tube is kept. This minimally invasive approach is the one recommended in the American Urological Association (AUA) 2026 guideline. Some people feel a groin ache during this step or afterwards, because the tube runs up into the abdomen.
4. Each tube is cut. A short piece may go to a pathologist to confirm it is the vas deferens. Both cut ends are tied with a stitch and sealed with a laser.
5. The wound is closed with dissolving stitches, so nothing needs removing. You can shower normally straight after surgery.

The laser sends energy only from its tip. No grounding pad goes on your body, you can keep your watch and glasses on, and most people can use their phone.

Where do the sperm go?

The testicles keep making sperm, but the sperm cannot get out. They age and break down in the epididymis (the coiled tube on each testicle), and the body absorbs them. So sperm do not build up, and the testicles do not swell. In a few people a little fluid leaks from a cut end and forms a small lump (sperm granuloma). Most cause no symptoms.

Local anaesthesia or sedation

Local anaesthesia is enough to complete the operation. No fasting and no sedative; you are awake throughout. Afterwards you rest at the clinic, and when the wound is not oozing, you walk out.

Sedation can be arranged with a specialist anaesthesiologist if you are very anxious, cannot lie still, or have fainted at injections or had panic attacks. The anaesthesiologist chooses the method, and heart rhythm (ECG), blood oxygen and blood pressure are monitored throughout. It requires fasting, an adult companion, and no driving or riding for 24 hours. More: sedation for vasectomy (Chinese).

Before surgery: consent, fasting and medicines

• Spouse consent. Under Taiwan’s Genetic Health Act, Article 10, a married person needs the spouse’s signed consent in principle (not if the spouse is missing, unconscious or mentally disordered). Unmarried minors, and people under guardianship or assistance orders, need consent from their legal representative or assistant.
• Food. Local anaesthesia: eat as usual. An empty stomach makes dizziness and cold sweat during the injection more likely. Sedation: the clinic tells you the fasting times, generally at least 8 hours for solid food and 2 hours for clear fluids such as water.
• Weight-loss injections (tirzepatide, semaglutide): stop one week before sedation. They slow stomach emptying, so stomach contents may enter the lungs during anaesthesia. The one-week stop follows the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) 2023 advice; a 2024 multi-society statement relaxed this, but the clinic keeps the cautious one-week stop. If you use them for diabetes, ask the prescribing doctor about blood sugar control.
• Blood thinners: tell us, and do not stop them yourself. Examples: aspirin, clopidogrel, warfarin, rivaroxaban, apixaban. With a heart stent, heart valve surgery or past blood clots, never stop them on your own. The clinic and your prescribing doctor decide together, then set the date.
• Supplements that may affect clotting: ginkgo, fish oil, vitamin E, grape seed, ginseng. Tell us.
• Other medicines: take blood pressure, heart and thyroid medicines as usual. With diabetes and sedation, ask how to adjust tablets or insulin on the day.
• Diabetes: bring an HbA1c report from the 3 months before surgery. At 8.5% or higher, we advise controlling blood sugar first.
• On the day: shower as usual. Do not shave the scrotum yourself (small cuts raise infection risk). Wear fairly tight underwear for support afterwards. Tell us about any allergy to local anaesthetics, a tendency to keloid scars, or other special medicines.

The semen test

The clinic tests at 3 months and after 15–20 or more ejaculations, so that the first test is more likely to pass. Most men are clear by then (median more than 80% in a large review), but 10–20% still have sperm at the first test (Griffin 2005, J Urol).

• Sperm still found: test again after 6 weeks.
• Moving sperm still found: test every 4–6 weeks. Still moving sperm at 6 months: the doctor discusses repeating the vasectomy.
• Only non-moving sperm that never reach zero: the doctor discusses more contraception, more tests or repeat surgery (AUA 2026, Statement 20).

At the clinic: tested and reported the same day, and read by a doctor. Use the clinic’s sterile container and collect by masturbation, without a condom or lubricant. From home, keep it at room temperature and bring it within 1 hour if possible.

Near your home: you can discuss using a local laboratory, then send the report on LINE for a doctor to read. It must be one uncentrifuged sample, read within 2 hours of collection, with no sperm at all. We do not accept samples by post.

Recovery

• Most people return to normal daily activities the same day, and work the next day. Shower straight away.
• Mild swelling or soreness for a few days is normal. For 48 hours, use cold packs and wear fairly tight, supportive underwear.
• For 3 days: no heavy lifting, hard exercise, heavy work or cycling. Back to normal step by step after about 1 week.
• On the day: avoid long scooter rides and long drives; take a taxi or public transport, or ask family to pick you up. On the way, avoid long standing and heavy bags, and plan rest stops on a long trip. If you fly home or come from an outlying island, stay at least one night and do not book an early flight.
• Sex after about 1 week, depending on healing. Keep using contraception until the semen test is clear.

Risks, side effects and limits

This is a lower-risk outpatient procedure, but failure and complications are still possible:

• Not immediate. Use other contraception until a semen test shows no sperm. Some men need repeat tests; with moving sperm at 6 months, repeat surgery is discussed.
• Rejoining. After a clear test, about 1 in 2,000 chance of pregnancy remains.
• Bleeding and swelling. Bleeding, bruising, swelling, a blood collection under the wound (haematoma) or infection can happen. Most are mild and settle; a haematoma is usually absorbed with time. Infection is rare.
• Pain. Some need no painkillers the next day; others describe it like being kicked in the testicles. It usually settles within a week. A few people have long-term scrotal pain (post-vasectomy pain syndrome).
• Numbness and lumps. Some numbness near the wound (cold packs help). A small hard lump is usually the knot of the stitch, less often a sperm granuloma. Early fullness or dull ache in the epididymis, or a groin ache, usually settles. If swelling grows, pain gets worse, or you feel a clear hard lump, come back.
• No protection against infections. If you are at risk of sexually transmitted infections, keep using condoms and have regular screening.
• Permanent. Reversal is not suitable for everyone, and neither reversal nor sperm retrieval is sure to work. Discuss it with your partner first.
• Sedation adds risks such as slowed breathing, low blood pressure, nausea and vomiting, and drug allergy.
• Not now, or treat first: you may still want children; allergy to local anaesthetics; blood thinners not yet assessed; with same-visit circumcision, acute inflammation of the foreskin or glans.

The first three days: warning signs

Every patient has a check about one week after surgery. But bleeding and haematoma are most likely in the first three days, when you are probably already home. This list matters most.

Contact us on LINE first, at any hour (a photo helps). The doctor replies and arranges care if:

• the dressing is soaked with blood, or the scrotum swells clearly within hours;
• bruising spreads to the penis, groin or perineum;
• swelling stays or keeps growing, or pain gets worse instead of better;
• the wound leaks fluid, is red or warm, or you have a fever;
• you cannot pass urine.

For bleeding, press with clean gauze for 20 minutes without lifting it. Go to the nearest emergency department only if LINE does not reply and the bleeding will not stop, or you cannot pass any urine.

Is it right for you, and if you want children later

A vasectomy may suit you if your family planning is complete, or contraception is difficult for your partner. Wait if you may still want children or are not sure. The doctor checks three things: Is your family planning final? Have you talked with your partner? Is your life and relationship stable now? If any answer is unsure, the doctor will ask you to think more and will not schedule surgery that day. If you are young or unsure, consider reversible options with your partner first, such as a contraceptive implant for women (etonogestrel). Deciding between your vasectomy and your partner’s contraception? Come to the consultation together.

Following the AUA guideline, the doctor explains that the aim is permanent contraception. There are two paths to children later, neither sure to work, and both costly:

• Microsurgical reversal under general anaesthesia. The tube may stay blocked from inflammation or narrowing. The tube reopens in more than 90%, and pregnancy follows in about 50–70%, but neither can be guaranteed. Chances fall with time since vasectomy and with both partners’ ages.
• Sperm retrieval from the epididymis or testicle, with IVF using ICSI (one sperm injected into an egg). Not every method needs general anaesthesia.

You can freeze sperm before surgery; it is optional. This clinic does not perform reversal microsurgery. We assess you (time since vasectomy, complications, examination and ultrasound of the testicles and epididymis, hormone tests if needed, your partner’s age and fertility) and help refer you to a hospital that does microsurgery.

With circumcision at the same visit

This is common: one anaesthesia and one period of leave. See circumcision options. Acute inflammation, infection or uncontrolled skin problems of the foreskin or glans must be treated first. Two wounds mean more swelling and discomfort, so allow wider activity limits. Showering and sex follow the circumcision timeline (sex after about 4 weeks). Surgery takes longer; sedation time is assessed separately. You follow the circumcision visits, plus the semen test at 3 months. When booking, write “circumcision and vasectomy at the same visit” and your anaesthesia choice.

From another city or abroad

Pre-sedation tests must be ordered by a doctor: ask at the clinic or on LINE which ones you need. The anaesthesia assessment is still done here. A chest X-ray involves radiation, so the doctor discusses whether you need it.

More: patients from other cities and islands (Chinese), patients from Hong Kong, Macau and Malaysia (Chinese), directions and parking (Chinese).

Frequently asked questions

Appointments and access

Consultations are conducted in Mandarin, and can also be conducted in English.

On LINE, write “assessment and surgery at the same visit”. You do not need to explain why you are here in the waiting area; the clinic has private consulting rooms.

昭安泌尿科診所 (Morning Urology Clinic)
No. 98, Boguan 2nd St., West District, Taichung City 403, Taiwan（403 臺中市西區博館二街98號）
Consulting hours: Monday to Saturday (closed Sunday). Online booking is open 24 hours.

This page was produced by 昭安泌尿科診所 (Morning Urology Clinic). Medical content last updated: October 2026 (same as the Traditional Chinese version). English version published: 5 November 2026. Medically reviewed by Dr. Chao-An Chen, urologist.

Sources: Vasectomy: AUA Guideline (2026) (Statements 1, 11, 20, 21, 22) / Griffin T, et al. J Urol. 2005;174(1):29–36 / Campbell-Walsh-Wein Urology, 12th ed. / Taichung City Government Health Bureau, subsidy for special groups.

This page provides general medical information and does not replace an individual diagnosis or treatment plan.