Recurrent varicocele: Role of antegrade sclerotherapy as first choice treatment

OBJECTIVE: To underline the role of antegrade sclerotherapy as first choice treatment in recurrent varicocele. METHODS: In 53 patients, aged 11-38 years, observed over a 30-month period, antegrade sclerotherapy was carried out for the treatment of recurrent varicocele. In seven of these patients, varicocele was bilateral. The right varicocele, however, had not been previously detected and these patients were, therefore, submitted to simultaneous bilateral antegrade sclerotherapy. RESULTS: Antegrade sclerotherapy was feasible in all 53 patients (60 varicoceles) and no significant complications were observed. Unsuccessful results occurred in only two out of the 55 varicoceles observed over a minimum follow-up period of six months. CONCLUSIONS: Whilst antegrade sclerotherapy is recognized as a low-cost, safe and effective method in the management of varicocele, the success rate in recurrent varicocele is even greater than in primary varicocele. If, in the preceding treatment, the internal spermatic vein has presumably been occluded (percutaneous retrograde sclerotherapy, surgical or laparoscopic retroperitoneal ligation of the entire bundle), antegrade sclerotherapy should be considered the treatment of choice.