ABDOMINAL CRYPTORCHIDY.
In this severe form of the trouble under consideration, the various steps of the operation demand careful study. Indeed, so common, so serious, and so frequently fatal are the complications which the surgeon may expect to encounter, that many operators habitually discourage the interference with this peculiar violation of normal conditions.
The first two steps of the operation are similar to those which belong to castration in inguinal cryptorchidy. Following on we have for the
Third step, the perforation of the inguinal canal, or the establishment, by the operator, of an artificial communication from without, with the abdominal cavity within. To effect this the surgeon introduces his hand, with the fingers united in the form of a cone, into the external inguinal ring, and carefully forces them upward towards the external angle of the ilium, resting them upon the crural arch. He soon reaches the closed superior inguinal ring, feeling only the peritoneal membrane, where it is readily torn. Then tearing it sufficiently to permit the passage of the entire hand, or as large a portion of it as is necessary, he has reached the
Fourth step, or the seizure and removal of the testicle.—The hand, or three fingers, are then passed into the abdominal cavity, in order to feel for the organ or its appendages, until the location is determined, whether of testicle, epididymis, vas deferens, or blood vessels. These are usually found floating not far from the torn opening of the peritoneum. But if not so readily discovered, the hand must be carried above the neck of the bladder, towards the end of the deferent canal, which must be followed until the epididymis or testicle is found. It is then carefully brought outwards by a slow and steady traction upon the testicle itself, or upon a portion of the epididymis, or even upon the extremity of some of the testicular blood vessels.
Fifth step.—The removal of the organ is always much more safely effected with the ecraseur than by other means. The operation is completed by the application of a suture upon the external wound, in order to guard effectually against the possibility of ventral hernia occurring subsequently.
Abdominal cryptorchids are sometimes treated by removal through the flank—an operation intrinsically more dangerous, as well as less promising of success than that in the inguinal region.