Prevalence of late orchidopexy is consistent with some undescended testes being acquired

To diagnose the incidence of orchidopexy versus age over a 15-year period, a study was conducted of all patients discharged from a single institution for orchidopexy with reference to age during operation. The hypothesis drawn was that some boys have acquired UDT and therefore, will present late despite recommendations for early diagnosis and treatment. The study was conducted on patients from Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne (1980-94). The results suggested that while the optimal age for management of congenital UDT has been lowered to one to two years of age by under-graduate education, the persistence of a significant number of older children undergoing surgery suggests that some UDT's are acquired. It also showed that the proportion of orchidopexies performed in infancy increased over the 15-year period while the proportion performed in late childhood remained constant.