Anyone's Ds had a Orchiopexy?

[SockPinchingMonster]

My ds has just had an ultrasound that has confirmed he has an undescended testicle. The hospital doc we saw last week said that if the scan confirmed the testicle was in the groin he would be referred to St James' in Leeds for an Orchiopexy so I just wondered if anyone's ds has had this operation and if you could let me know how it went, recovery time etc. Also how large the scar is. My dh also had this problem as a child and has 2 fairly long scars either side of his groin. Is it done keyhole these days or is my ds looking at a similar size scar? Any experiences shared would be much appreciated.

My DS had this. The operation was fairly quick, approx 60-90mins. It was done as keyhole surgery, so he had two tiny incisions just under the line of his pants waistband, and then about a 15mm incision in the scrotum. The surgeon explained that they do a 'wiggly' cut in the scrotum rather than a straight cut because it looks more natural and less visible as the scrotum gets more wrinkly with age!! 3years on I can't see any scarring from groin incisions, but the scrotum scar is visible if you look for it.

DS was pretty distressed coming round from the general. It was done as day surgery, but we ended up staying because DS took ages to urinate after the op and was not allowed home until he'd performed.

Recovery was ok - but the bruising and swelling was pretty shocking at first. We found we needed to alternate calpol and neurofen for several days otherwise DS was clearly in pain. It was also hard carrying him for weeks afterwards (he was just under age 2) as he found it uncomfortable to be on my hip.

Happy to answer any other questions, and good luck to your DS!

Therein - thank you so much for your reply. I was worried he would end up with a massive scar like his dad but that's great to know that it is done by keyhole surgery now.
The poor thing is so worried about having to have surgery, he's 6 so quite aware of what is going on. Thanks for warning me about the bruising and swelling. I will make sure to have a supply of Calpol and Nurofen waiting for him.
Thanks once again.