Unnecessary diagnostic imaging: a review of the literature on preoperative imaging for boys with undescended testes |
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| Authors: | Siobhán Hartigan Gregory E. Tasian |
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| Affiliation: | 1.Department of Surgery, Division of Urological Surgery, Perelman School of Medicine at The University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA; 2.Division of Pediatric Urology, 3.Center for Pediatric Clinical Effectiveness, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA |
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| Abstract: | Cryptorchidism or undescended testis is one of the most common pediatric disorders of the male endocrine glands and the most common genital disorder identified at birth. Ultrasound is commonly ordered for boys with undescended testes prior to referral to a surgical specialist, but its sensitivity and specificity is insufficient to reliably localize non-palpable testes and thus confers unnecessary costs to the patient and the healthcare system. We review the ability of ultrasound, computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to reliably locate undescended testes and emphasize whether diagnostic imaging should change the decision to operate or the surgical approach for boys with cryptorchidism. |
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| Keywords: | Cryptorchidism diagnostic imaging ultrasound |
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