Medical Mouse

NEW YORK - Men who want to have a vasectomy reversed may soon be able to opt for a "mini-incision, no-scalpel" operation, according to a group of surgeons who have performed a number of successful vasectomy reversals using this approach.

In vasectomy, the tube that carries sperm from the testes to the penis, the vas deferens, is severed. The operation can now be performed through a tiny incision in the scrotum, resulting in fewer complications than the more invasive approach requiring a larger incision.

Men who change their minds can choose to have the surgery reversed by reconnecting the severed ends of the vas deferens, or have sperm "retrieved" and used for in-vitro fertilization.