There are three types of surgery and one so called “non surgical” procedure. The three surgeries all involve surgical ligation, i.e. surgery to tie off the faulty veins. I. Varicocelectomy (Conventional Open Surgery) In a conventional varicocelectomy the doctor makes a two or three inch incision below the groin area or in the abdomen. He goes in and ties off the offending veins. This procedure is performed on an outpatient basis (i.e. no overnight hospital stay) using general or spinal anesthesia. You may need to avoid strenuous activity for several days or even weeks after surgery. Most men are able to go back to work within three to four days. This is the most common procedure. You may have a hard time finding a doctor who can do one of the other procedures. Complications include hydrocele (fluid around the testicle) and infection. There is about a 20% chance that the easy guitar songs varicocele will recur because some of the smaller veins are not identified and are missed during surgery. There is about a 5% risk of hydrocele formation ? a collection of fluid around the testicles, because lymph vessels are indirectly tied off too, so that more fluid is accumulated. There is also a risk of damage to the testicular artery that supplies blood to the testicles, which means that your testicles will shrivel up and die and you’ll be singing soprano like a girlie man. There will be a scar similar to an appendectomy scar. Often the surgeon will make the incision in the abdomen rather than the groin because there are fewer blood vessels at this level and they are large and therefore easily identifiable. However, recent anatomic studies have shown that ligation at this level may miss some lateral drainage veins, resulting in a higher failure rate and higher recurrence rates. II.