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What is it about ?
An undescended testicle refers to a testicle that stays in the inguinal canal and does not descend into the scrotum.
Normally, the testes descend about a month before birth. At puberty, the testes produce a male hormone (testosterone) and sperm. For the production of normal sperm, the testes must be in the scrotum, where the temperature is slightly lower than the rest of the body.
An undescended testicle can lead to decreased fertility and an increased risk of testicular cancer. Recent research has shown that early intervention can reduce this risk. It is therefore important to detect an undescended testicle in time.
At school age, the testicle can also be retractable. This mainly happens when he is hypermobile.
What is its frequency?
There is the absence of at least one testicle in the scrotum in 2 to 9 newborns out of 100. The testes descend spontaneously 7 times out of 10. After 3 months, the absence of at least one testicle is therefore not observed. in the scrotum than in 1 to 2 in 100 infants.1
How to recognize it?
You do not feel the testicle on palpation of the scrotum.
How is the diagnosis made?
After birth, in child welfare services and during medical examinations at school, we always check whether the testicles have descended in little boys. The doctor examines the testicles while the child is standing or sitting cross-legged on a parent’s lap. If he doesn’t feel a testicle in the scrotum, he checks to see if he can push the testicle from the inguinal canal into the scrotum and if it stays in place.
What can you do ?
If you suspect that a testicle has not descended and this has not yet been discovered during a check-up by child welfare services, it is recommended that you contact the doctor.
What can your doctor do?
By treating an undescended testicle at 6 to 12 months of age, and certainly before 18 months, permanent damage is limited. The general practitioner will refer a 6-month-old child with an undescended testicle to a specialist in the child’s urogenital system (pediatric urologist). He will even have to do it even faster if both testicles have not descended. Referral to a pediatric urologist is also necessary if the testicle can be pulled into the scrotum, but it goes up.
It is the pediatric urologist who will have to decide on the need for surgery. During this operation, ideally performed between 6 and 12 months of age, the testicle is pulled into the scrotum and tied there.
Hormone therapy may give positive results in mild cases, but there are doubts about the possible risks of this type of treatment. Therefore, this treatment is only applied in exceptional cases.
If the testicles are in the right place from time to time, for example in the bath or in the shower, treatment is not immediately necessary. On the other hand, it is advisable to regularly monitor the evolution of things.
Sources
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