European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine

Abstract

Background: Undescended testis (UDT) is the most prevalent genital abnormality in boys
and owing to its long-run complications, it must be managed before one year of life.
Objectives: was to determine the age of presentation of UDT to our institution, the age at
surgical intervention, application of current guidelines and the outcome of surgery.
Patients and methods: We prospectively studied 70 boys with UDT admitted for
orchiopexy at urology center in Al-Yarmouk Teaching Hospital/Baghdad/Iraq in 2017-2019.
Patients were distributed into 3 age groups based on the time of surgery; age ≤ 1 year
(group 1), 1 < age ≤ 2 years (group 2) and age > 2 years (group 3). Laterality of UDT,
palpability, age at diagnosis and surgical treatment, kind of surgical procedure and postoperative
complications were evaluated
Results: Of the 70 children included in the study, 75.7% exhibited unilateral
cryptorchidism, 78.5% testes were inguinally sited (most common). Most testicles were
palpable clinically (69%). The mean age at time of diagnosis was 1.61±2.07 years whereas
at time of surgery was 2.46 ± 2.37 years. The mean interval between diagnosis and
surgical treatment was 10.2 ± 0.78 months. Boys who underwent surgery before their 1st
birthday, before 2nd birthday or later were 4.3%, 30% and 65.7% respectively. Open
surgical technique performed in 95.7% of cases
Conclusion: Most patients comprised in the study underwent surgery at an age later than
recommended by international guidelines due mainly to delayed referral and delay by
parents. This issue can be overwhelmed by updating the awareness concerning UDT
management