Said Osawa, Said Sh Mohamed

Department of Surgery, The University of Nairobi

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Undescended Testes (UDT) is one of the most frequent anomaly of male genitalia with incidence of 2 to 5% of term male neonate (1,2). There is risk of testicular malignancy about 3-8 folds in the retained testicles(1,2). Testicular function is affected by UDT. Studies have shown that spermatogenesis is disrupted in the gonads with abdominal or inguinal locations (5,10). The testicular volume assessment in undescended testis is a key aspect to evaluate the testicular development and function(6). Late presentation and higher locations are associated with significant decrease in testicular volume (6,10).

Study design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting and population: The study was carried out in Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH), a level 6 national referral hospital in Kenya. The study population was male infants and children with unilateral UDT at the age of 6 months and above at the KNH Pediatric surgical outpatient clinic.

Study objectives: To assess the testicular volume at age of presentation in patients with unilateral undescended testes as seen at Kenyatta National Hospital.

Results

In left UDT, the mean testicular volume at presentation in the left and right testes were 0.625 and 0.69 respectively. This association was not statistically significant with a P value of 0.103. In right UDT, the mean testicular volume at presentation in right and left testes were 0.575 and 0.709 respectively. This association is statistically significant with a P value of 0.01. There was a significant correaltion between increase in age and testicular volume in both left and right unilateral UDT. This correalation is noted to be more significant in the right UDT. Notably the changes in testicular volume is seen to occur with signifacant variability at 2 years of age in both left UDT ( P value 0.048) and right UDT (P value 0.02).There was a significant correaltion between increase in age and testicular volume in both left and right unilateral UDT. This correalation is noted to be more significant in the right UDT,

Conclusion: This study demonstrated significant reduction in volume of undescended testes compared to their counterparts. The difference in volume was more pronounced after 2 years of age.