Ultrasonography is unnecessary in evaluating boys with a nonpalpable testis.
OBJECTIVE
An inguinal sonogram often is obtained in boys with a nonpalpable testis to "localize" the testis, ie, determine whether the testis is present. The results of ultrasonography in boys with a nonpalpable testis were analyzed.


METHODS
The records of boys who were referred to a pediatric urology center with a diagnosis of nonpalpable testis and who had undergone inguinal sonography were reviewed. The results of sonography were compared with findings in the office as well as surgical findings.


RESULTS
A total of 62 boys who were referred with a diagnosis of a nonpalpable testis and who had undergone a sonogram were reviewed. The sonogram was ordered by the primary care physician in 51 boys (82%) and by a general urologist in 11 cases (18%). The testis was identified by sonography in 12 (18%) of 66 cases, and all were localized to the inguinal canal. Physical examination by a pediatric urologist showed that 6 were in the scrotum and 6 were in the inguinal canal or perineum. Of the 54 testes that were not localized by the sonogram, 33 (61%) were palpable and 21 (39%) were nonpalpable. Of the truly nonpalpable testes, laparoscopy and abdominal/inguinal exploration identified the testis as abdominal in 10 cases and atrophic secondary to spermatic cord torsion in 11 cases.


CONCLUSIONS
Sonography is unnecessary in boys with a nonpalpable testis, because it rarely if ever localizes a true nonpalpable testis, and it does not alter the surgical approach in these patients.
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003456:Cryptorchidism / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007264:Inguinal Canal / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D010173:Palpation / Q000379:methods; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014463:Ultrasonography