Age at orchidopexy as an indicator of the quality of regional child health services.

Early treatment for primary undescended testis (UDT) is necessary to prevent testicular degeneration and improve fertility. The general recommended age for orchidopexy is before 2 years of age. Comparing the age distribution of orchidopexy between different services may give an indirect indication of the quality of the child health services, since timely diagnosis and referral will lead to boys undergoing orchidopexy at the optimal age. This paper reviews the age distribution of boys having orchidopexies for UDT between 1997 and 2006 in the South Island of New Zealand and the state of Victoria, Australia: 64.2% of boys on the South Island and 48.0% of boys in Victoria had orchidopexies before the age of 5. There was a considerable difference in the proportions of children from 0 to 4 years and from 10 to 14 years between the two regions. No distinct trend in age was seen in either population during the period reviewed. These results show that many boys do not receive treatment for UDT at the optimal age. Age at orchidopexy may be an indicator of the quality (in terms of diagnosis, access and timeliness) of a region's paediatric surgical service and may identify where attention should be paid if earlier diagnosis and referral is to be achieved.