Abstract
Cryptorchidism, or undescended testicle, is detected by the attending physician during physical examination of a boy. The treatment is surgical: the testis with accompanying cord structure is mobilized and brought into the subcutaneous pouch in the scrotum.
Cryptorchidism is associated with a risk of sterility and the development of testicular cancer in adulthood. It is recommended to perform the treatment, orchidopexy, by age two.
Phimosis, a tight foreskin, is a normal finding by age one; afterwards, local application of a corticoid ointment is recommended for a period of six weeks; if it fails, circumcision is warranted. Preputial adhesions, a condition in which a sufficiently wide foreskin is attached to the glans, are not separated until school age; corticoids are not indicated.
Hypospadias is an abnormal ventral opening of the meatus of the urethra and is treated surgically after the child is one year old.