TESA

What is a TESA?

TESA is an acronym which means Testicular Sperm Aspiration. It is a minimally invasive testicular biopsy technique performed by needle aspiration. As suction system, we use a small butterfly needle (19G) with a clear plastic tube 30 cm long attached to a 20 ml syringe. After the anaesthetic infiltration, the needle is inserted into the testicle while pulling the plunger of the syringe to generate a negative suction pressure, which is maintained throughout the procedure. This manoeuvre allows aspirating seminal tubules from the testicles that are sent to the IVF lab for processing, in order to retrieve the spermatozoids. Being a minimally invasive technique that almost doesn’t generate any discomfort to the patient, the TESA meets all the requirements to consider it the first choice technique for testicular spermatozoids retrieval.

When is it done?

When there are no spermatozoids in the ejaculate (azoospermia) or if they are dead, the TESA allows retrieving good quality spermatozoids from the testicle that will be used at that time to microinject the eggs in the IVF-ICSI cycle, or to freeze and use them in subsequent cycles.

What kind of anaesthesia is used?

It’s performed under local anaesthesia.