[Penile length of the children with unilateral cryptorchidism].

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the impact of unilateral cryptorchidism (UC) on penile development in children.

METHODS

We collected the relevant data on 491 male children aged 12－24 months from January 2017 to January 2019, including 241 normal healthy subjects (the control group) and 250 UC patients (the UC group, 123 with intra-abdominal and the other 127 with inguinal cryptorchidism). We measured the stretched penile length (SPL) in the flaccid state and analyzed its association with the height and weight of the subjects.

RESULTS

The average SPL of the UC patients was significantly shorter than that of the normal controls (［3.7 ± 0.5］ vs ［4.3 ± 0.8］ cm, P < 0.01), and so was that of the UC patients in the 12－18 and 19－24 months age groups than that of the normal controls in the same age groups (P < 0.01). Besides, the SPL was also markedly shorter in the intra-abdominal UC than in the inguinal UC group (［3.4 ± 0.2］ vs ［3.8 ± 0.3］ cm, P < 0.05). No statistically significant differences, however, were observed in the height and weight of the subjects between the UC and normal control groups.

CONCLUSIONS

The penile length of the boy with unilateral cryptorchidism is shorter than that of the normal healthy child, the higher the testis location, the shorter the penile length.