I had a vasectomy back in the middle of December. I have taken two specimens to my doctor. I took in the first specimen about 5 weeks ago and they told me it was clear. The second specimen I took in yesterday and they told me it was positive for sperm. My wife and I have an active sex life (approximately 80 – 90 ejaculations since mid December) thus I do not believe it is any residual left from prior to the vasectomy.
My question is it possible the first specimen was really clear? If it was, how is it possible that I now have sperm in my ejaculate. Thanks for your help.
It is important to know how much sperm were seen. A single non-motile sperm is a positive result as well as 25 million sperm. If it is a single or rare non-motile sperm then you can still be clearing out your vas deferens downstream from the vasectomy site. This can happen infrequently. It also depends on how the semen was analyzed. If a centrifuged (pelleted) specimen was not performed the first time it is possible that they missed the sperm. In fact, in azoospermic patients (patients without any sperm in the ejaculate) a centrifuged specimen will identify sperm approximately 20% of the time. All post-vasectomy patients should have a pelleted semen analysis to confirm their sterility.
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