15th April 2024

Management

Screening of all new born babies should take place within 72 hours of birth and at 6-8 weeks of birth, which should involve evaluation of the scrotum for the presence of the testis, if not identified, the child should be reviewed at 4-5  months in case of spontaneous descent of the testes, if still undescended these patients should be urgency referred to a surgeon.

A child presenting with bilateral impalpable testis, abnormalities of the penis or ambiguous genitalia requires urgent referral to a tertiary paediatric centre for identification of disorders of sexual differentiation.  

Surgical treatment

If the testis are palpable during examination, they should be treated with orchidopexy (release of the undescended testis and fixation in the scrotum) via either an inguinal or scrotal approach.  If the testis are not palpable examination under anaesthesia (EUA) along with inguinal exploration/diagnostic laparoscopy is needed to identify the site of the testis to facilitate a subsequent orchidopexy/orchidectomy.