Orchidopexy

Children who are assigned male at birth have a scrotum- a skin pouch present behind the penis, typically containing two testicles (testes). The testicles are situated within the abdominal cavity and they descend into the scrotum through the inguinal canal just before the birth of a male child. This is important as the testicles need a lower temperature than normal body temperature to produce sperm. However, some children possess undescended testicles.

Undescended testicles occur when one or both testicles are absent in the scrotum and are instead found in the groyne (inguinal region). The incidence of such a condition is more common in preterm infants, the newborn males. In most cases, undescended testicles occur on just one side and a small percentage of cases have bilateral undescended testicles. Fortunately, such a painless condition is fixable with Orchidopexy Surgery in Hyderabad performed at Arete Hospitals.

Arete Hospitals ranks among the best multispecialty hospitals where top-notch paediatric urologists or surgeons are in the panel. They have expertise in successfully performing Orchidopexy in Hyderabad using advanced therapeutic facilities. They are known to provide unparalleled, comprehensive, and personalised care to all their patients within their budgets.   

What is Orchidopexy?

Orchidopexy is an outpatient, minor surgery to reposition undescended testicles. It is the permanent fixing of the testicles into the scrotum from the groyne. It is also known by other names like orchiopexy or undescended testicular repair surgery.

Orchidopexy can even be performed to correct and prevent testicular torsion. Testicular torsion is a serious, painful condition wherein testicles get twisted and their blood supply gets cut off.

What Does Orchidopexy Involve?

Orchidopexy is performed with a joint effort of a team of medical specialists including a paediatric surgeon, urologist, anaesthesiologist, or nurse. A paediatric anesthesiologist first sedates the child with general anaesthesia to let the child remain asleep throughout the operation.

Once the anaesthesia has taken its effect, a Pediatric Surgeon or Urologist in Hyderabad makes an incision in the groyne area of the child using a scalpel. Through the incision, the undescended testicle and spermatic cord of the patient is located. At this time, testicle health is examined. If testicular health is not right, the doctor replaces the unhealthy testicle with a testicular prosthesis.

Further, the doctor examines the groyne area of the patient. If necessary, hernia sac repair takes place. A hernia sac may develop when a part of the child’s intestine along with fluids or fats pushes through an opening in the abdominal wall muscle.

Then, Orchiopexy Surgeon in Hyderabad examines the spermatic cord to make sure it's of proper length and can help the testicle reach the scrotum without creating tension. If not, the stitching back of the hernia sac can provide enough length.

Next, the doctor makes a small incision in the scrotum to create a Dartos pouch for holding the testicle. Through the incision, a small grasping tool is inserted up to the groyne to gently pull the undescended testicle down into the created pocket. The testicles are secured using dissolvable stitches. Lastly, the incisions are closed using dissolvable sutures.

For a child with testicular torsion, a surgeon makes a cut in the scrotum to untwist the spermatic cord and then examine the testicle. If the testicle is healthy, it is stitched to the scrotum so that it doesn’t twist back. If unhealthy, the testicle is removed and replaced with a prosthesis. The surgery ends with the closing of incisions using dissolvable sutures and the covering of stitches with gauze or bandages.   

After Discharge

The child’s caretaker at home must follow these post-surgery instructions at home:

• Apply an ice pack over the swollen or bruised areas for at least 10 minutes, four times a day.
• Limit the child’s diet plan to clear liquids and soft, bland foods for the stomach to settle after the operation.
• Let the child take proper rest and avoid any activities that strain the groyne or abdominal region and could injure the newly repaired testicle.
• Keep the affected area of the child as clean as possible to prevent infection.
• Sponge bathing or showering of the child is allowed but not taking a bath in a tub for a week.

Orchidopexy for treatment of palpable testicles near the scrotum is estimated to have a success rate of above 90%. The failures after the surgery with occurrence of undescended testicles even after the operation is not so commonly encountered with Orchidopexy.

1. How painful is an orchidopexy?

Orchidopexy is performed on the patient who has received sedation or general anaesthesia. Therefore, the procedure is comfortable throughout. However, after surgery, the patient can expect moderate pain. Pain or discomfort starts improving after several days and it's manageable with pain relieving medications.

2. How long does an orchidopexy take?

The orchidopexy procedure lasts for less than an hour for one undescended testicle. However, the patient needs to stay for a few hours longer after the operation to let the anaesthesia effect wear off and be stable to go back home.

3. What is the recovery time following an Orchidopexy?

Most children aged 1 year older can return to normal routine activities about 2-3 days following the surgery.

Choose Arete Hospitals for Undescended Testicle Surgery (Orchiopexy) in Hyderabad due to its renowned reputation, experienced surgeons, and specialised paediatric urology department. Arete Hospitals offers a high level of expertise and care, ensuring a successful procedure for patients, particularly children.