Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Penile Length and Testicular Volume in Newborns

  • Original Article
  • Published:
The Indian Journal of Pediatrics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Objectives

To measure Penile length (PL) and Testicular volume (TV) in newborn boys for assessing genital abnormalities.

Methods

In a tertiary care setting, measurements of PL and TV were recorded from 480 babies born on alternate days except the weekend, at 24 to 72 h of life by one investigator with the same set of instruments. The penis was stretched to the point of increased resistance and the distance from the tip of the glans penis to the pubic ramus was measured as the stretched PL. Testicular volume was measured by a Prader orchidometer. Improvised beads made of plasticine were used for recording volumes <1 ml.

Results

In the study cohort, 365 (76.04 %) were term babies. The mean PL was 34 ± 4.7 mm for the whole cohort while the corresponding value for mean TV was 0.6 ± 0.2 ml. The gestation age-wise percentile charts of PL and TV have been generated. There was modest positive correlation between PL and TV. Positive correlation was also observed between PL and TV and birth weight, body length, and head, chest and arm circumference. Both PL and TV showed statistically significant increase with gestational age. By the index data, the cut-off for suspecting abnormal penile length should be <24.5 or >45.5 mm for term babies.

Conclusions

The normative values generated can serve as reference standard in the diagnosis of penile length abnormalities in Indian babies and in clarifying issues of ambiguous genitalia and maldevelopment of male external genitalia.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Lee PA, Mazur T, Danish R, et al. Micropenis. I. Criteria, etiologies and classification. Johns Hopkins Med J. 1980;146:156–63.

  2. Feldman KW, Smith DW. Fetal phallic growth and penile standards for newborn male infants. J Pediatr. 1975;86:395–8.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Flatau E, Josefsberg Z, Reisner SH, Bialik O, Iaron Z. Penile size in newborn infants [letter]. J Pediatr. 1975;87:663–4.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Fok TF, Hon KL, So HK, et al. Normative data of penile length for term Chinese newborns. Biol Neonate. 2005;87:242–5.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Cheng PK, Chanoine JP. Should the definition of micropenis vary according to ethnicity? Horm Res. 2001;55:278–81.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Salisbury DM, Leonard JV, Dezateux CA, Savage MO. Micropenis: an important early sign of congenital hypopituitarism. Br Med J (Clin Res Ed). 1984;288:621–2.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Kallmann FJ, Schoenfeld WA, Barrera SE. The genetic aspects of primary eunuchoidism. Am J Ment Defic. 1944;48:203–36.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Adan L, Couto-Silva AC, Trivin C, Metz C, Brauner R. Congenital gonadotropin deficiency in boys: management during childhood. J Pediatr Endocrinol Metab. 2004;17:149–55.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Vasudevan G. Manivarmane, Bhat BV, Bhatia BD, Kumar S. Genital standards for south Indian male newborns. Indian J Pediatr. 1995;62:593–6.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Kulkarni ML, Rajendran NK. Normal values for penile standards in newborns. Indian Pediatr. 1991;28:1341–3.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Schonfeld WA, Beebe GW. Normal growth and variation in male genitalia from birth to maturity. J Urol. 1942;48:759–77.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Sotos JF, Tokar NJ. Testicular volumes revisited: a proposal for a simple clinical method that can closely match the volumes obtained by ultrasound and its clinical application. Int J Pediatr Endocrinol. 2012;2012:17. doi:10.1186/1687-9856-2012-17.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  13. Lin CC, Huang WJS, Chen KK. Measurement of testicular volume in smaller testes: how accurate is the conventional orchidometer. J Androl. 2009;30:685–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Sakamoto H, Saito K, Oohta M, Inoue K, Ogawa Y, Yoshida H. Testicular volume measurement: comparison of ultrasonography, orchidometry and water displacement. Urology. 2007;69:152–7.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Semiz S, Küçüktaşçi K, Zencir M, Sevinç O. One year follow-up of penis and testis sizes of healthy Turkish male newborns. Turk J Pediatr. 2011;53:661–5.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Lian WB, Lee WR, Ho LY. Penile length of newborns in Singapore. J Pediatr Endocrinol Metab. 2000;13:55–62.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Sutan-Assin M, Rukman J, Dahlan A. Penile dimensions of newborn infants. Paediatr Indones. 1989;29:146–50.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Ting TH, Wu LL. Penile length of term newborn infants in multiracial Malaysia. Singap Med J. 2009;50:817–21.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Al-Herbish AS. Standard penile size for the normal full term newborns in the Saudi population. Saudi Med J. 2002;23:314–6.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Prabhu SR, Mahadevan S, Bharath R, Jagadeesh S, Kumutha J, Suresh S. Normative data for stretched penile length in term neonates born in Tamil Nadu. Indian J Endocrinol Metab. 2014;18:585–6.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  21. Prasad P. Vanishree. A comparison of lip prints between Aryans-Dravidians and Mongols. Indian J Dent Res. 2011;22:664–8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Laron Z, Sarel R. Penis and testicular size in patients with growth hormone insufficiency. Acta Endocrinol. 1970;63:625–33.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Chin T, Liu C, Wei C. Testicular volume in Taiwanese boys. Zhonghua Yi Xue Za Zhi (Taipei). 1998;61:29–33.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Preiksa RT, Zilatiene B, Matulevicius V. Penile size and testicular volume in healthy Lithuanian newborns. Endocr Abstr. 2009;20:P637. Available at: http://www.endocrine-abstracts.org/ea/0020/ea0020p637.htm. Accessed 15 May 2015

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Contributions

RM: Primary investigator and corresponding author, advisor in study conduct and manuscript revision; SR: Advisor in study conduct and manuscript revision; KC, TKS and AS: Secondary investigator; AH: Statistician and manuscript revision; SD and JC: Advisor in manuscript writing; MS: Acquisition of data and drafting the manuscript. RM and SR will act as guarantor for the paper.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatric Medicine, Medical College Kolkata, Kolkata, India

    Rakesh Mondal, Kaushani Chatterjee, Tapas Kumar Sabui, Jasodhara Chaudhuri, Archan Sil & Moumita Samanta

  2. Department of Neonatology, Medical College, Kolkata, India

    Somosri Ray

  3. Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education & Research (IPGME&R), Kolkata, India

    Avijit Hazra

  4. Department of Pediatric Medicine, BC Roy PGIPS, Kolkata, India

    Suman Das

Authors
  1. Rakesh Mondal
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Somosri Ray
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Kaushani Chatterjee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Tapas Kumar Sabui
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Avijit Hazra
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Suman Das
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Jasodhara Chaudhuri
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Archan Sil
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Moumita Samanta
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rakesh Mondal.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

None.

Source of Funding

None.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Mondal, R., Ray, S., Chatterjee, K. et al. Penile Length and Testicular Volume in Newborns. Indian J Pediatr 83, 1398–1404 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12098-016-2163-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12098-016-2163-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation