To investigate the clinical efficacy of second-stage open surgery and laparoscopic surgery in the management of abdominal high cryptorchidism using the Fowler-Stephen procedure.

A total of 80 cases of high cryptorchidism in children who were treated at the Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Tongzhou District, Beijing, from November 2013 to June 2018 were included in this study. The patients were divided into two groups based on the surgical approach: the open surgery group and the laparoscopic surgery group, with 40 cases in each group. Surgical time, intraoperative bleeding, time to mobilization, length of hospital stay, and postoperative short-term and long-term complications were compared between the two groups.

The laparoscopic surgery group had significantly shorter surgical time, less intraoperative bleeding, a shorter time to mobilization, and a shorter hospital stay compared to the open surgery group (P<0.05). The incidence of postoperative complications in the short- and long-term follow-up was lower in the laparoscopic surgery group compared to the open surgery group (P<0.05).

Fowler-Stephen surgery in the second phase of laparoscopic surgery for the treatment of high abdominal cryptorchidism is an effective method and has high clinical value for the treatment of high cryptorchidism.