Laparoscopic orchiopexy: short-term outcomes. Experience of a single centre.
BACKGROUND
Increased infertility and smaller volume accompany undescended testis. Timing of orchiopexy is still a matter of debate. We evaluated the growth of non-palpable testes after laparoscopic orchiopexy according to age at surgery, intraoperative findings and type of procedure.


METHODS
Forty-one boys undergoing laparoscopy for nonpalpable testes were retrospectively reviewed and divided into two groups, ≤18 months and >18 months, according to their age at surgery.


RESULTS
At follow-up, 14 testes in the younger group had normal size, while 3 atrophied either after single (2) or two stage procedure (1). Similarly, in older boys 11 testes grew normally, while 5 atrophied after both procedures.


CONCLUSIONS
Most of the non-palpable testes grew normally after laparoscopic orchiopexy and the postoperative volume seemed independent from the surgical strategy. Both techniques led to a few cases of testicular hypotrophy. In our experience, the age at surgery did not affect the outcome in terms of testicular growth.
Pediatric Surgery, Institute for Maternal and Child Health - IRCCS "Burlo Garofolo", Trieste, Italy - federica_pederiva@yahoo.it.
Federica
F
Pederiva
Edoardo
E
Guida
Daniela
D
Codrich
Maria G
MG
Scarpa
Damiana
D
Olenik
Jurgen
J
Schleef
D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003456:Cryptorchidism / Q000601:surgery*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D056126:Orchiopexy / Q000379:methods*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013737:Testis / Q000002:abnormalities / Q000601:surgery*; D016896:Treatment Outcome