I kind of imagined this blog intertwining some of my medical knowledge with my experiences, and what better way to study for our North American Veterinary Licensing Exam than by blogging out my clinical experiences?! This first one will be a ball, or rather a retained ball 
Welcome to the land of one-hung-low!
Cryptorchid – crypt meaning hidden and orchid meaning testes
Cryptorchidism is a problem that plagues the animal kingdom. It doesn’t so much amaze me how we get such things botched up, but rather, it boggles my mind that we get things right so often!
The testicles typically descend through the inguinal canal by six months in the canine, with actually most arriving in the scrotum by 10 days. As many as 10% of male puppies can be cryptorchid, either unilaterally or bilaterally. This means that either one testicle or both can be retained in the abdomen or in the inguinal canal (that fun area where your thigh meets your pelvis). The majority of cryptorchids are unilateral, with the right testicle as the right kidney and testicle are further cranial in the body than the left–”Left is left behind.”
Most cryptorchid testes don’t produce sperm (since they’re maintained in the body at a temperature 1-2 degrees Centigrade higher than in the cool, low-hanging scrotum) so if your only reason for castration is sterilization, then I suppose you could leave it there. If cancer and the ever-worrisome testosterone is your concern, however, you’d best take it out. Testosterone is still produced, though at lower levels, putting the dog at a higher risk for such fun hormone-dependent tumors as perianal gland tumors (sounds great, right?) or benign prostatic hypertrophy (plague of both elder intact male dogs and humans alike). Retained testicles also also 13x more likely to develop testicular neoplasia–especially Sertoli cell tumors.
It was a unique opportunity for me (since the other five people on my rotation didn’t have the chance) to get to do this cryptorchid castration. My little patient had a retained left testicle, floating around in the inguinal canal… and you know the strategy for extracting the little bugger? Just find it and cut… or as my junior surgery professor told us “No nut, don’t cut.” He also was the professor who made it known to us that dogs are quite “scrotally conscious,” which is the reason why most canine castrations are done the way they are–by only incising above the scrotum and popping the soon-to-be-no-longer testes. (Believe me, next to lancing an abscess, it’s one of the most satisfying feelings a veterinarian can experience.)
A hard-fought but exciting experience finding the restless testis!
