Dr. Nam on potential future research on vasectomy in the post-Dobbs era

In this video, Catherine S. Nam, MD, discusses potential avenues for future work based on findings from the study, “Short-Term Changes in Vasectomy Consults and Procedures Following Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization.” Nam is a clinical andrology fellow at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago, Illinois and a recent graduate of the University of Michigan residency program in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Video Transcript:

We don't have any planned studies at this point, unfortunately, but I think there's a lot of different directions that we can go with from this study. It'd be really interesting to look at the vasectomy practice patterns, whether it's increasing consultation or procedures that differ by state, given that the abortion laws are dependent on a state level. For example, our findings were a little bit different than the findings that were found in Ohio. So, it'd be very interesting to see how that looks across the country depending on the political climate of the abortion law. We did this partially, but also across the country it would be interesting to see what's the conversion rate of a vasectomy consult to actual vasectomies that were performed. Part of the limitation is what I was alluding to earlier in terms of what kind of systematic changes do we need to make from each institution to be able to meet the demands of the patients. That doesn't happen overnight; typically, it takes weeks or months for that to be instituted. So, it'd be interesting to see what kind of a time lag existed and how are we actually able to meet the demands of patient care.

It would also be interesting to see if there is growing interest in male contraceptives with the increased interest in vasectomy, which is considered to be a permanent solution. For an oral contraceptive equivalent for men, is that something that is going to be more interesting to our patients? The other thing that I think would be interesting is there's the thought of vasectomy regret where because of the permanent nature, what proportion of patients have regret surrounding their decision? Especially in the post-Dobbs era, given the political nature of it, does that look different compared to our prior patient population that used to seek out vasectomy?

This transcription has been edited for clarity.