"CRYPTORCHIDISM"

It is important for parents to examine the testicles and scrotum of their baby boy. If you do not know there should be two testicles or balls in this sac between his legs. The testicles hang around in this sac and move about freely during the day. The reason for examining the testicles is if the testicles do not come down from inside the abdomen or groin there may be a chance of the testicles either being absorbed by the body and or the glands not functioning by producing the reproductive material sperm and the male hormone testosterone. Each gland called the testicle makes its own sperm so if you loose one testicle you still have the other testicle. You only need one testicle to reproduce.

Undescended Testicles

The undescended testicle or testicles is a birth defect that affects between 1and 2 percent of babies. The undescended testicle may be found between the abdomen and scrotum, the groin area above either leg , between the scrotum and anal opening, and other places.

Something may have happen before, during or after delivery of a baby. There is also a chance that the testicles may have never developed though this is rare and is seen often if a person is born with only one kidney. The side that the missing kidney is on is usually the side the missing testicle is on.

The testicles form during the first trimester and and by the 7th month have descended into the sac or scrotum and continues its development there. The undescended testicle are also seen with hernias. The hormone called HCG Human Chorionic Gonadtropin can be given to bring the testicles down. There is about a 10 percent chance of this working.

Refractile testicles is when the testicles are in their normal resting place in the sac and move up into the groin or into the inguinal canal by reflex. This is seen in infants and young children when the thigh or abdomen is touched or the child exposed to cold weather or cold water. This is a normal reflex by the cremasteric muscle and as one gets older this reflex becomes less and the testicles drops permanently into the scrotal sac.

This is not only the job of the parents but also the doctors who you take your baby to for exams and checkups. It may seem easier for a dad to do this than a mom but both parents need to be made aware of this. Sperm is made in the testicles and this sperm is what carries the babies genetic makeup when he gets married and passes this on to his child.

The semen is the thick, sticky stringy liquid substance that the sperm travels in. The reason it is important that the testicles come down is for the baby when he grows into a man is to make a baby or reproduce. The body temperature in the scrotum or sac is about 95 degrees. The temperature in the body is about 98 degrees.

If the testicles stay in the hotter temperature of the body up in the groin area the testicles either can't make the sperm or their is a decrease in the movement of the sperm, decrease in the amount of sperm or other things could gone wrong.

It is also important to check the testicles to be sure that the testicles have not twisted in the sac called torsion of the testicles usually caused by the blood supply wrapping around the chord. The testicles hang in the sac by two tubes that act like a string holding the testicles in place while they rest in the sac. These 2 strings are the spermatic chords.

The sperm is carried or passed up from the testicles from the vas deferens into the spermatic chord into the shaft of the penis and out the hole called the meatus during ejaculation. It is important to check this from a reproductive point of view but also this torsion of the testicles is extremely painful.

If a child complains of pain in the penis or testicles this should be considered. Not all cases report pain but it is still important to check on this by feeling the testicles and understanding that each testicle has a separate chord of its own. The testicles should hang in the sac and should freely move about . The testicles can be moved about by hand and normally go back into their normal setting.

If the testicles don't move down into the sac an operation called an orchiopexy is done to bring the testicles down into the sac. There is also the possibility of more than one operation needed to correct this.

If you ask why I bring this up it is because we have received a number of phone calls from parents asking if this is common in babies who have esophageal atresia tracheoesophageal fistula or the VATER association and because this has happened to their child. Over the last 10 years we have heard this many times and felt it was important to share.