Prevalence of Inguinal Hernias and Genital Abnormalities among Elementary-School Boys

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.