Varicose veins of the testicle

Varicose testicles may be caused by improper sitting posture, which affects the development of blood vessels and leads to testicular atrophy and azoospermia, which is quite harmful to men. At the same time, premature sexual intercourse and diseases such as kidney tumors and hydronephrosis are also causes of varicose testicles. Therefore, when male friends encounter varicose testicles, they should go to the hospital to check the cause in time.

Affected population

The chance of middle-aged and older men getting varicocele is not very high, and it mainly occurs in young men. The incidence rate is 10-15% in the male population, and 15-20% in male infertility. This symptom mostly occurs on the left side, but it is not uncommon for patients to have bilateral varicocele, which can be as high as about 20%.

Varicose veins of the testicles may be accompanied by testicular atrophy and spermatogenesis disorders, resulting in male infertility. Varicose veins can also be caused by kidney tumors or other retroperitoneal tumors. Varicose veins caused by compression are called symptomatic or secondary varicocele. The harm is very great.

Since there is no obvious discomfort when varicocele is first diagnosed, and children are often ashamed to ask about or seek medical treatment for lesions of the external genitalia, it is often not discovered until adulthood when scrotal swelling, poor appearance, or infertility occur. It is often considered an adult disease. In fact, varicocele begins in childhood and adolescence, and reaches its peak during puberty. According to recent medical and scientific research, varicocele can start as early as 6 years old and peak at 11-17 years old. The incidence rate can reach about 20%, which is higher than the 12% incidence rate of adults. It can be seen that varicocele is not entirely an adult disease. According to doctors' analysis, the reason why the incidence rate in adults is lower than that in adolescence may be that some adolescents' varicose veins can heal themselves without treatment when they reach adulthood.

Causes

(I) Anatomical factors: The blood of the testicle and epididymis flows back through the spermatic vein, which can be divided into three groups. They have collateral circulations at the external ring to communicate with each other. The rear group: external spermatic vein → inferior epigastric vein → femoral vein → external iliac vein. The middle group: vas deferens vein → superior vesical vein → internal iliac vein. Front group: Internal spermatic vein: The veins of the testis and epididymis mainly return through the spermatic vein plexus. The plexus merges into 2 to 4 veins in the inguinal canal, passes through the internal ring to the retroperitoneum and merges into a vein called the internal spermatic vein. The right internal spermatic vein goes up obliquely into the inferior vena cava; the left one goes into the left renal vein at a right angle.

(ii) Physiological factors: Young men have stronger sexual functions and the blood supply to the scrotal contents is strong. Therefore, some varicocele may gradually disappear with age. In addition, standing for a long time and increasing abdominal pressure are also factors that cause the disease.

(III) Other factors: Retroperitoneal tumors, kidney tumors, hydronephrosis, etc. compress the spermatic vein and can cause symptomatic or secondary varicocele. The primary one disappears quickly when lying down, while the secondary one often does not disappear or disappears very slowly.