PURPOSE: Laparoscopic assessment of pelvic anatomy has gained wide popularity over the years. Today surgical treatment of impalpable testis is nearly always preceded by diagnostic laparoscopy. The actual role of such a procedure remains undefined. We performed a prospective randomized clinical trial in patients with impalpable testis to evaluate the clinical usefulness of laparoscopy before surgical exploration. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We studied pediatric, age matched patients with impalpable testis who were randomized to group 1-30 who underwentopen surgery only and group 2-31 who underwent laparoscopy and open surgery. Anatomical findings, operative procedures, operative time and cost, number of recurrences and testicular volume at followup were then compared in the 2 groups. RESULTS: There were no statistically significant differences in the 2 groups for any of the considered parameters except operative cost and time, which were significantly higher in the laparoscopy group. CONCLUSIONS:Preoperative laparoscopy does not provide any significant advantage over open surgery for treating impalpable testis.
RCT Entities:
PURPOSE: Laparoscopic assessment of pelvic anatomy has gained wide popularity over the years. Today surgical treatment of impalpable testis is nearly always preceded by diagnostic laparoscopy. The actual role of such a procedure remains undefined. We performed a prospective randomized clinical trial in patients with impalpable testis to evaluate the clinical usefulness of laparoscopy before surgical exploration. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We studied pediatric, age matched patients with impalpable testis who were randomized to group 1-30 who underwent open surgery only and group 2-31 who underwent laparoscopy and open surgery. Anatomical findings, operative procedures, operative time and cost, number of recurrences and testicular volume at followup were then compared in the 2 groups. RESULTS: There were no statistically significant differences in the 2 groups for any of the considered parameters except operative cost and time, which were significantly higher in the laparoscopy group. CONCLUSIONS: Preoperative laparoscopy does not provide any significant advantage over open surgery for treating impalpable testis.
Authors: Elke Zani-Ruttenstock; Augusto Zani; Emma Bullman; Eveline Lapidus-Krol; Agostino Pierro Journal: Pediatr Surg Int Date: 2014-11-05 Impact factor: 1.827