JACKSONVILLE, Fla – March Madness has college basketball fans glued to their seats. Some men are finding an excuse to spend some extra time on the couch.
In recent years, urologists have reported increases of as much as 50% in the number of vasectomies scheduled around the tournament, according to ESPN.
The NCAA Tournament is in full force and for many doctors, including Dr. Scot Ackerman, this stretch of college hoops is keeping them busy with a particular procedure: vasectomies.
“Patients that we are seeing within our practice around this time of year, many of them bring up the fact that it’s March Madness and NCAA tournament,” he said.
Dr. Ackerman, who is a radiation oncologist, says his office is already seeing a spike in patients coming in for elective surgery.
“We’ve seen about a 25% or 30% uptick in the number of vasectomies that we will be doing over the next few weeks,” Ackerman said.
The typical recovery for a vasectomy is two or three days of rest and no strenuous activity. Ackerman says that can be an excuse for them to watch non-stop basketball for a few days.
“The urologists around the country have seen this as an opportunity and there’s a lot of advertising related to that,” he said.
A decade ago, the Oregon Urology Institute even ran a radio ad encouraging men to get vasectomies, followed by doctors ordering their patients to watch as much basketball as possible.
Ackerman believes it is a convenient time.
“The basketball tournament is going and [the patients] are going to be sitting around watching the game anyway,” he said.
Dr. Ackerman says he also sees this procedure done a lot in March because patients want to get it done ahead of summer vacation and after the busy holiday season.
The common age range for the surgery is between 30 and 45 years old.