Paediatric Urology

Dr. Oriol Martín Solé · Information for families

Genital conditions in children

Genital conditions may affect the penis, foreskin, testes, scrotum or vulva, as well as genital development.

Understanding genital conditions

19 conditions
Illustration of phimosis with a narrow foreskin opening.

Phimosis

A narrow foreskin opening that makes retraction difficult; in young children, this may be part of normal development.

Illustration of hypospadias with the urethral opening on the underside of the penis.

Hypospadias

A congenital condition in which the urethral opening is on the underside of the penis, often with curvature and an incomplete foreskin.

Side view of ventral penile curvature compared with a dashed straight reference axis.

Penile curvature

A bend in the penile shaft, usually present from birth, that may occur alone or alongside hypospadias.

Illustration of penoscrotal webbing, with scrotal skin extending onto the underside of the penis.

Webbed penis

Scrotal skin attaching unusually high on the underside of the penis, obscuring the angle between the penis and scrotum.

A schematic small penis with a measurement marker, without a numerical scale or diagnostic cut-offs.

Micropenis

A structurally normal penis with a stretched length below the expected range for age, requiring specialist assessment.

Illustration of epispadias with an open urethra on the dorsal surface of the penis.

Epispadias

A congenital urethral defect with an opening on the upper side of the penis in boys, which may occur with bladder exstrophy.

A schematic section showing attachments between the inner foreskin and the glans.

Preputial adhesions

Attachments between the foreskin and glans, common in childhood, that often separate naturally as a child grows.

Small smegma pearls between the foreskin and glans, shown in a schematic section.

Smegma cysts

Small whitish collections of shed skin cells beneath the foreskin, usually benign and not caused by infection.

A unilateral example of a testis retained in the inguinal canal, with an empty corresponding hemiscrotum.

Undescended testis

One or both testes being outside the scrotum, potentially remaining along their normal path of descent.

A unilateral intra-abdominal testis example, one possible cause of a non-palpable testis, with an empty hemiscrotum.

Non-palpable testes

Testes that cannot be located by examination; they may be inside the abdomen, very small or absent.

Front view with enlarged veins in the patient’s left spermatic cord above the testis.

Varicocele

Enlarged veins around the testis, more common during adolescence and usually on the left side.

A clearly twisted spermatic cord and dark-purple testis in a diagram of testicular torsion.

Testicular torsion

Twisting of the spermatic cord that may cut off blood flow to the testis and requires immediate medical attention.

A small twisted, darkened appendage at the upper pole, while the testis and main spermatic cord are not twisted.

Torsion of the appendix testis

Twisting of a small appendage beside the testis, causing scrotal pain and inflammation.

An enlarged red epididymis beside a testis with a preserved appearance.

Epididymitis

Inflammation of the epididymis, the tube beside the testis, which may cause scrotal pain and swelling.

A fluid-filled cyst in the epididymal head, clearly separate from the interior of the testis.

Epididymal cysts

Small benign fluid-filled sacs in the epididymis beside the testis, usually painless.

A schematic testis section with multiple small dots representing intratesticular microcalcifications.

Testicular microlithiasis

Tiny calcium deposits within the testis, usually detected as bright spots on an ultrasound scan.

Front view of the vulva with partial fusion of the inner labia and a small preserved anterior opening.

Labial adhesions

Adhesion between the inner labia, common in young girls and sometimes associated with urinary symptoms.

Sagittal illustration of a urogenital sinus: ochre bladder, urethra and vagina joining a common channel, with the uterus and rectum separate.

Urogenital sinus

A congenital condition in which the urethra and vagina share a common channel opening to the outside.

Diagram of gonadal and genital duct differentiation during embryonic development.

Disorder of sex development (DSD)

Congenital conditions involving variations in chromosomal, gonadal or anatomical sex development.

These anatomical and functional diagrams are illustrative examples and do not represent every variation.

Further reading
All conditions