Men who regularly self-examine their testicles may find a lump has developed and is felt. This needs to be assessed urgently in order to exclude the possibility of a testicular tumour. Testicular tumours mainly arise in men under the age of 35 and although it can develop in older men, it is rare in the older age group. Testicular tumours can easily be felt and confirmed accurately using ultrasound scanning of the scrotum. Once confirmed, CT scanning can detect if there has been any spread of the tumour.
The surgical treatment of these tumours involves removing the testicle through an incision in the groin. At the same time, a testicular prosthesis can be inserted to to replace the testicle. Once the testicle has been analysed by our pathology team, patients are assessed by a specialist oncology doctor in order to determine what further treatment is required. Overall men diagnosed with testicular cancer respond very well to treatment and have very good survival rates. Mr Muneer ensures that all patients undergoing surgery for testicular cancer are offered the option of sperm banking so that patients can still start a family following treatment.
In some cases the lesion in the testicle is small and the nature of it is uncertain. In these situations Mr Muneer can undertake a testicle preserving technique which uses ultrasound guidance to locate the lesion and then the lesion is excised. The tissue is analysed immediately following which either the testicle is removed if the lesion is malignant or the testicle is preserved.
There are several other causes of scrotal swellings. The commonest are hydroceles, epididymal cysts and hernias which have descended into the scrotum. These conditions can easily be diagnosed and surgical correction can be offered.