Prevalence of inguinal hernias and genital abnormalities among elementary-school boys

ABSTRACT

Penoscrotal diseases and inguinal hernia are abnormalities that are often not diagnosed in childhood because most parents do not know the normal anatomy of this region. We designed a cross-sectional study in order to determine the prevalence of inguinal hernia and penoscrotal abnormalities in the elementary school boys in Zahedan city. We studied 3100 elementary-school boys, aged 7-12 years, who underwent clinical examination of the groin and genitalia in 2008. Abnormalities were detected in 167 children [5.38%]. The most frequent anomaly was indirect inguinal hernia, seen in 81 children [2.6%]. The other abnormalities were undescended testis in 39 boys [1.2%], hydrocele in 25 boys [0.8%], hypospadiasis in 11 boys [0.3%], epispadiasis in 1 boy [0.03%], varicoceles in 3 boys [0.09%] and micropenis in 7 boys [0.2%]. Since these abnormalities are most common disorder in children, education of the public and medical staff about these abnormalities and screening system are needed to improve the outcome: