What is an Orchiopexy Surgery?

An orchiopexy surgery is recommended by doctors when a baby boy has a testicle that has not yet descended by a certain age. Until the last couple months, male fetuses' testicles are still inside their abdomens. Under normal circumstances, the testicles descend into the scrotum before birth. For some boys, this does not happen with one or both of their testicles, often with babies who are premature or low birth weight. If the testicles don't descend on their own by the time the boy is a year old, a pediatrician will refer the family to a urologist. The reason for this is that it is believed that the heat of the body will damage the undescended testicle's ability to produce sperm, particularly if it remains undescended past the first year.

The urologist will palpate the boy's inguinal area, which is the canal that the testicle normally descends through, to try to feel where the undescended testicle is. If the urologist cannot find it in this manner, he may require an ultrasound. Knowing where the testicle is is important because the higher it is, the riskier the orchiopexy surgery will be and the less chance it has of succeeding. If the testicle is low in the groin area, the surgery will involve making an incision in the scrotum, going up the inguinal canal and capturing the testicle to bring it down. This is the most noninvasive method.

If the testicle is too high to perform the surgery simply through the scrotum, then the urologist will make two incisions; one in the scrotum, and the other in the abdomen where the testicle is. They make an incision in the abdomen to free up the testicle from whatever tissues are preventing it from descending. After it is freed, they bring the testicle down in the same manner as the procedure described above. The orchiopexy is performed under general anaesthesia, so a child remains asleep during the surgery. It is an outpatient procedure, so most boys will be able to go home a few hours after the surgery. It is recommended that the boy not ride any straddle toys or jump around during recovery, which will be two weeks. It was less than that for my son, who was back to his normal level of energy within two days.

According to WebMD, the procedure is sometimes performed on older boys, teens and men as well. Sometimes undescended testicles go undetected until puberty, when testicles "drop" as the scrotum expands downward away from the body. If a boy has undergone puberty, the undescended testicle is often removed to minimize the risk of testicular cancer, as opposed to being brought down into the scrotum.

Source:
Author/Artist - WebMD
Page Title - Orchiopexy For Undescended Testicle
Site Title - www.webmd.com