Inguinal hernias and genital abnormalities in young Jordanian males

This study was carried out to document the prevalence of inguinal hernia, hypospadias, undescended testis and varicocele in 3057 male applicants to the military wing of Mu’ta University in the south of Jordan. Age range was 17–20 years. A total of 250 men had one the 4 conditions: 93 (3.0%) had inguinal hernia; 15 (0.5%) had undescended testis (26.7% bilateral); 59 (1.9%) had hypospadias; 83 (2.7%) had varicocele (98.79% on the left side). Prevalence of inguinal hernia and undescended testis were comparable with international prevalence rates, while the rate for hypospadias was higher and that for varicocele lower. A birth defects registration system would help in planning preventive and treatment strategies