History of Vasectomy

The first vasectomies were performed in the 1800s, with the first vasectomy in the United States in 1897. Traditionally, the vas tubes were accessed by cutting two incisions into the scrotum with a scalpel. During the 1970s in China, Dr. Shunqiang Li developed a more gentle technique using a very fine tool to access the tubes through a single tiny puncture. This no-scalpel technique was shown to have fewer complications and to be more acceptable to patients than the traditional technique. In 1985, a team organized by Engender Health visited China to learn the more gentle technique. As part of the Engender Health team, Dr. Marc Goldstein brought the no-scalpel vasectomy back to the US at the New York Presbyterian Hospital, and Dr. Phaitun Gojaseni introduced the no-scalpel technique in Thailand. Since the 1980s, the no-scalpel technique has been spreading across the globe.