Truck-powered vasectomy? How a doctor improvised when electricity went out in Texas
A man who scheduled a vasectomy in Texas really didn’t want to have to reschedule when he learned the clinic’s electricity was out. After all, he already had the time off work.
With a little creativity — and an electric pickup truck — his doctor proposed an unusual solution: a male sterilization procedure powered by an electric truck.
Dr. Christopher Yang said the idea came from one of his staffers who jokingly suggested the doctor should use his newly acquired Rivian R1T pickup truck for power, according to WGLT. Yang did happen to have an extension cord that ran the length from the parking lot to the patient’s room.
“When talking to the patient, we mentioned that we could just reschedule the procedure itself, or, if he was up for it, we could do the vasectomy using power from the truck,” Yang told WGLT. “And he had a good laugh as well, and we agreed.”
The result was what Yang thinks might have been the first Rivian powered vasectomy ever.
He shared photos of his Sept. 1 set up to Twitter, showing the yellow cord running from his silver truck into the clinic. Yang works as a urologist with North Austin Urology Specialists.
“Procedure went great,” Yang said.
In particular, Yang needed the electricity to run an electrocautery device. That’s a tool that helps control bleeding in surgery, and it can also cut tissue and resect tumors.
During a vasectomy procedure, “your surgeon will make an opening in your skin and grasp the vas deferens,” the tubes that carry a man’s sperm, according to the Cleveland Clinic. “The vas deferens is then divided and tied, clipped or cauterized. Cauterizing closes cuts with an electrical current.”
Rivian trucks include outlets, making it possible to use the electric tool.
If the truck hadn’t been able to properly power the electrocautery unit, or if the power source was interrupted, Yang had a handheld cautery device available as backup, according to WGLT. But he didn’t need it.
McClatchy News reached out to NAU Specialists for comment on Sept. 9.
Yang has worked with the clinic since 2015, according to his bio, and he “has a special interest in the medical and surgical treatment of erectile dysfunction, Peyronie’s disease, and low testosterone.”
This story was originally published September 9, 2022 at 11:03 AM with the headline "Truck-powered vasectomy? How a doctor improvised when electricity went out in Texas."