Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29713547›Full record

ReviewArab journal of urology2018

Varicocele management for infertility and pain: A systematic review.

Scott D Lundy, Edmund S Sabanegh

Open access · diamondAbstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Arab journal of urology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
22citing papers in PubMed
5.1field-weighted citation impact, top 5% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

22 citing papers in PubMed, 62 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
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  8. Are varicoceles the holy grail of Andrology?International journal of impotence research · 2024
    Review
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  10. Article
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  20. Severe male factor inAsian journal of andrology
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Scott D LundyDepartment of Urology, Glickman Urological and Kidney Institute, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, OH, USA.
Edmund S SabaneghDepartment of Urology, Glickman Urological and Kidney Institute, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, OH, USA.
Cleveland Clinic · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Despite being first described two thousand years ago, the varicocele remains a controversial multifaceted disease process with numerous biological consequences including infertility, hypogonadism, and chronic orchidalgia. The underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood and likely include hypoxia, oxidative stress, hyperthermia, anatomical aberrations, and genetics as primary components. Despite a high prevalence amongst asymptomatic fertile men, varicoceles paradoxically also represent the most common correctable cause for male infertility. In this systematic review we discuss the rich historical aspects of the varicocele and the contemporary data regarding its clinical manifestations. We performed a systematic literature review with the goal of comparing outcomes and complication rates of each of the major surgical approaches as they relate to infertility and pain. We performed a Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA)-compliant systematic literature review for manuscripts focused on varicocele and its biological consequences. We identified 112 studies suitable for qualitative analysis and included 56 of these for quantitative analysis, with an emphasis on infertility and chronic pain outcomes. Taken together, the clinical work to date suggests that the highest fertility rates and the lowest complication rates are associated with the microsurgical subinguinal surgical approach to varicocelectomy. In all, 26-40% of patients undergoing varicocelectomy will successfully achieve short-term spontaneous pregnancy, and up to 90% of all patients undergoing varicocelectomy for pain will have improvement and/or resolution of their symptoms. Taken together, the data support an ongoing role for varicocelectomy in both of these clinical arenas.

Indexed as

HIF1A, hypoxia-inducible factor-1αHSP, heat shock proteinHypogonadismInfertilityOrchidalgiaPampiniform plexusPRISMA, Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-AnalysisROS, reactive oxygen speciesUS, ultrasonographyVaricocele

Identifiers

PMID29713547
PMCPMC5922006
OpenAlexW2772829060

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.