retracted testes

[joy43]

my eldest son's testes were both descended at birth. i am sure of that because i personally took care of him since birth.when he was  about 3 years old, i noticed that the left testicular sac became empty at times and there were times that the testis was present.  when he reached 5 years old, the left testis totally disappeared. it has completely retracted. he is now 8 years old.   what shall i do with my son? does he need to be operated on? what happens if i will just leave the testis as it is- retracted?  

[worrier77]

Are you saying that the testicle is basically IN the groin now all the time?

This is something which definitely needs to be taken care of! Inside the body it is WAY too warm for the testicles. Ascended testicles highly increase the cancer risk. Do not take this lightly.

[joy43]

thank you for taking time to answer my question. will keep you posted.http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Urology/retracted-testes/show/962794?post_id=post_4514578#

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hi,

Your son is suffering from retractile testes.
It is common in boys 5-6 years old and is due to a hyperactive cremaster muscle reflex. It is one of the variations of normal. In children from 1 year to 11 years of age, 80% of fully descended testes can withdraw from scrotum and leave an empty scrotum behind due to cremaster reflex. If a testicle can be milked down to the bottom of the scrotum, it is considered a retractile testis, and no further treatment is needed. This phenomena usually disappears by puberty.

If the testis cannot be milked down, then probably you should consult a urologist.

I sincerely hope that helps. Please do keep me posted. Warm Regards