Management of undescended testis may be improved with educational updates and new transferring model

Ital J Pediatr. 2018 May 24;44(1):58. doi: 10.1186/s13052-018-0499-4.

Abstract

Background: To investigate whether management of undescended testis (UDT) may be improved with educational updates and new transferring model among referring providers (RPs).

Methods: The age of orchidopexies performed in Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University were reviewed. We then proposed educational updates and new transferring model among RPs. The age of orchidopexies performed after our intervention were collected. Data were represented graphically and statistical analysis Chi-square for trend were used.

Results: A total of 1543 orchidopexies were performed. The median age of orchidopexy did not matched the target age of 6-12 months in any subsequent year. Survey of the RPs showed that 48.85% of their recommended age was below 12 months. However, only 25.50% of them would directly make a surgical referral to pediatric surgery specifically at this point. After we proposed educational updates, tracking the age of orchidopexy revealed a statistically significant trend downward.

Conclusions: The management of undescended testis may be improved with educational updates and new transferring model among primary healthcare practitioners.

Keywords: Age; Children; Educational updates; Orchidopexy; Undescended testis (UDT).

MeSH terms

  • Age Factors
  • Child, Preschool
  • Cryptorchidism / diagnosis
  • Cryptorchidism / surgery*
  • Education, Medical, Continuing*
  • Guideline Adherence
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Male
  • Orchiopexy / education*
  • Practice Patterns, Physicians'
  • Referral and Consultation*
  • Time-to-Treatment
  • Urology / education*