Assessment of Age and Duration of Symptoms on Outcomes of Emergency Scrotal Exploration for Acute Scrotal Pain

Abstract

Objective: To study the effects of age and duration of symptoms on the outcomes of scrotal explorations for acute scrotal pain at our institution.

Study design: Case series.

Place and duration of study: Bradford Teaching Hospital NHS Trust, from January 2006 to December 2017.

Methodology: Retrospective data was collected from electronic case records of the patients who required scrotal exploration for suspected torsion of the testis. Group difference between continuous variables (age and duration of symptoms) were assessed by Kruskal Wallis and independent samples Mann-Whitney U-tests. The Fisher Exact and Chisquare tests were used to analyse relationships between categorical data.

Results: In total, 502 patients required scrotal exploration. The median age (years) and duration of symptoms (hours) were 16.4 years (1.3 - 77) and 4 hours (1 - 336), respectively. Torsion of the testis was found in 231 (46%), torsion of the testicular appendix in 126 (25%), epididymal inflammation in 46 (9.2%), and no cause identified in 99 (19.7%). Immediate orchidectomy for non-viable testis performed in 34 (14.7% of TT group and 6.8% of the overall cohort). Duration of symptoms was significantly associated with risk of orchidectomy in torsion patients 4 vs. 27 hours (p <0.0001). Overall 47 (9.3%) patients presented after 12 hours, 22 (46.8%) had TT. There were 13 (2.6%) patients older than 40 years and 8 (61.5%) of these had torsion.

Conclusion: The most commonest diagnosis for patients presenting with acute scrotal pain was torsion of the testis followed by torsion of appendix testis. Testicular salvage was inversely related to the duration of symptoms. Patient's age did not predict the need for orchidectomy. This data supports the practice of urgent scrotal exploration for acute scrotal pain with a clinical suspicion of torsion regardless of age and duration of symptoms.