Varicoceles or swollen veins appeared on men’s scrotum will no longer be a problem for those trying to become fathers, according to a study to be published in the August issue of the journal Radiology.

Varicoceles are a common cause of male infertility due to the decreased blood flow in the testicles. Doctors have noticed that about 40 percent of men accusing infertility have varicoceles. Also, varicoceles affect 10 to 15 percent of healthy men, according to the National Institutes of Health, most of them occurring in young men between the ages of 15 and 25.

However, men experiencing these varicoceles now have the chance of get rid of them through a procedure called retrograde venous embolization, which is done via a tiny catheter. That procedure works by blocking excessive blood flow into the veins, allowing them to shrink back to normal size. It is a noninvasive procedure more comfortable compared to other alternatives, which involve open surgery.

RVE was tested on 223 infertile men with 228 varicoceles. Overall, 226 varicoceles were successfully treated. Three months after the treatment, the researchers performed semen analysis on 173 of the men and found that sperm activity and sperm count had significantly improved. Six months later, 45 couples or 26 percent had successfully become pregnant.

“Venous embolization, a simple treatment using a catheter through the groin, can help to improve sperm function in infertile men. With the patients’ improved sperm function, more than one-quarter of their healthy partners were able to become pregnant,” Sebastian Flacke, MD, PhD, an associate professor of radiology at Tufts University School of Medicine and lead author of the study said.