Percutaneous epididymal sperm aspiration (PESA) is a technique used to determine sperm counts in the event of a possible blockage of the vas deferens. It is an alternative to microepidydimal sperm aspiration (MESA), and aims to address the technical difficulty and cost of MESA. A small needle is inserted through the skin of the scrotum to collect sperm from the

epididymis The epididymis (; plural: epididymides or ) is a tube that connects a testicle to a vas deferens in the male reproductive system. It is a single, narrow, tightly-coiled tube in adult humans, in length. It serves as an interconnection between the ...

, where sperm are usually stored after production in the

testes A testicle or testis (plural testes) is the male reproductive gland or gonad in all bilaterians, including humans. It is homologous to the female ovary. The functions of the testes are to produce both sperm and androgens, primarily testoster ...

. It can also be used to extract sperm for

intracytoplasmic sperm injection Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI ) is an in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedure in which a single sperm cell is injected directly into the cytoplasm of an egg. This technique is used in order to prepare the gametes for the obtention of emb ...

(ICSI).

References

Male genital procedures {{zoology-stub