Total Inguinal Canal Mobilization in Two-Stage

Background: Many different techniques have been described to treat undescended testes. We aimed to study a new tech-nique of two-stage orchiopexy with total inguinal canal mobi-lization to prevent cord damage and testicular atrophy. Methods: Between March 2002 and July 2005, we operated on 16 testes with short spermatic cord. In the first stage, the testes were anchored to the pubic tubercle and 6 months later (second stage) they were fixed in the scrotum through total inguinal ca-nal mobilization. The patients were followed up by pre and postoperative physical examination, sonography of scrotum, and serum testosterone level measurement for 6-12 months. Results: Two of the 16 testes developed atrophy but 14 had vol-ume increase. Mean testicular volumes of preoperative and 1 and 6 months postoperative testes were 0.69 ± 0.22 ml, 0.84 ±0.26 ml, and 1.06 ±0.33 ml respectively. The volume increase was not only significant 1 (P=0.012) and 6 (P=0.002) months after the second operation compared with the first operation but also a significant increase in the volume was noted between the 1st and 6th month after the operation (P=0.003). All testes were in scrotum after 6-12 months and the patients had normal serum testosterone level for their ages before and after the operation. Conclusion: Two-stage orchiopexy with total inguinal canal mobilization prevents vascular damage in the second stage of operation