Question
The child was born with one side of the testicle not descending. I have consulted before, some doctors say surgery should be done before two years old, while others say there’s no big harm and surgery is not necessary. Now that my child is almost three years old, should surgery be done? What are the effects and consequences?
Answer
This condition in the child is cryptorchidism, which is itself due to incomplete ascent function of the testicle. If the testicle has not ascended from the abdominal cavity to the scrotum by the optimal time for pediatric cryptorchidism surgery, it may suffer irreversible damage. The temperature in the abdominal cavity is relatively high, which can cause significant swelling of the testicle, obstructing sperm development and significantly reducing the patient’s fertility. Many patients who underwent surgery between the ages of 4 and 8 suffered significant damage to their fertility. And performing surgery after puberty has little effect on fully restoring fertility. Therefore, it is advisable to perform surgery early on.