Diagnostic and Therapeutic Management of Impalpable Testis in the Era of Laparoscopy

Abstract

Undescended testis is one of the common urogenital abnormality encountered. Annandale was the first person to perform orchidopexyin 1877. At present single stage, Stephen-Flower�s staged, procedure is being carried out for impalpable intra-abdominal undescendedtestis with open and laparoscopy techniques with various modifications including testicular autotransplant. Cortesi et al1 were the first todo diagnostic laparoscopy for cryptorchidism in 1976. Jordan et al2 described laparoscopic orchidopexy in 1992. Since then laparoscopicmethod has been gaining popularity, with advances in the field of laparoscopy. In this study, recent articles of impalpable intra-abdominaltestis were reviewed to see the use of laparoscopy in the diagnosis and management.Conclusions: Diagnostic laparoscopy has become the gold standard for the diagnosis of impalpable testis. Laparoscopy for surgicalcorrection is gaining popularity in pediatric as well as adult group with more and more surgeons opting for laparoscopic treatment. It canalso benefit the patient and is logical if both diagnosis and surgical correction are combined at one time.3