InstalabPost-Vasectomy Semen Analysis
Should you take a Post-Vasectomy Semen Analysis test?
This test is most useful if any of these apply to you.
About Post-Vasectomy Semen Analysis
After a vasectomy, the follow-up test answers one plain question: whether any sperm can be seen in your semen. Instead of a blood draw, you collect a semen sample in private at home, and the lab examines it under a microscope.
This panel is that check. You pick up a collection kit at a Quest Diagnostics patient service center, collect your sample, and return it to Quest as soon as you can. The result tells you whether sperm were seen. It is not a sperm count.
What This Panel Reveals
The panel holds a single test: a microscopic examination of your semen for spermatozoa, the medical name for sperm cells. The result is qualitative, and Quest's directory lists no count or concentration result for this test. A broader semen analysis that measures sperm count, concentration, movement, and shape is a different test.
Two timing instructions come with this test. Quest cites the American Urological Association's window of 8 to 16 weeks after the vasectomy for the first post-vasectomy semen analysis, and asks that you not ejaculate for 2 to 7 days before collecting, or that you follow your clinician's directions.
How to Read Your Results Together
Quest lists two result lines for this test: the spermatozoa result and a comment line. Read the main result alongside any comment the lab adds to your report.
| Situation | What to Keep in Mind |
|---|---|
| No sperm seen | No sperm were seen in the sample the lab examined. Share the result with your clinician, who decides what it means for you. |
| Sperm seen | Sperm were seen in the sample. The result is not a sperm count, so your clinician reads it and decides on any next step. |
| Sample rejected | The sample could not be tested. The lab rejects samples that are contaminated, collected in a condom, or more than 48 hours old. |
| A comment on the report | If the lab adds a comment, read it together with the main result. |
What to Do with Your Results
An Instalab physician reviews your result before it is released to you. Share it with your own clinician, such as the one who performed your vasectomy, who decides what it means for you and what comes next, including whether you need another sample.
If your clinician asks for another sample, you can order this panel again. The same collection rules apply to every sample, so follow them each time.
When Results Can Be Misleading
The lab sets specific rules for collecting and handling this sample, and a sample that breaks some of them cannot be tested at all.
- Collection. Collect by masturbation into a sterile wide-mouth plastic container. The lab rejects samples that are collected in a condom or contaminated.
- Volume. Collect at least 1 mL of semen.
- Date and time. Note the date and time you collect the sample.
- Temperature and delivery. Keep the sample at room temperature and bring it to a Quest patient service center as soon as possible. A sample more than 48 hours old cannot be tested, and the 48 hours start when you collect, not when you drop it off.
- Lab schedule. Quest asks you to contact your local lab in advance, and most of its regional labs do not set up this test every day of the week.