Did the COVID-19 pandemic affect the Approach to Testicular Torsion Cases?

Abstract

Aim: COVID-19 pandemic affects the approach to emergency pathologies as well as in many diseases. Testicular torsion is a scrotal emergency, where the time leading up to diagnosis and treatment is most important in organ protection. We planned to compare the time until diagnosis and treatment and the rate of organ loss between the pre-pandemic period and the pandemic period in our clinic. Materials and Methods: In our retrospective study, we included patients over the age of 1 who were diagnosed with testicular torsion and treated in our clinic between March2019 and March2021. We divided the patients into 2 groups according to the time of admission. We named the period between March2019- March2020 Group1 and the interval between March2020- March2021 as Group2. We compared the 2 groups in terms of demographic data, ischemic duration and orchiectomy rates. Results: Of the 55 total cases that met the study inclusion criteria, 26 occurred during the pre-pandemic period and 29 during the COVID-19 crisis. The median age for group 1 was 17 (IQR: 6-32) and 15 (IQR: 6-28) in the group 2 (p=0,019). Incidence of orchiectomy in our center was 31% in the group 2 and 15.4% in the group 1 and it was not statistically significant (p = 0.173). In the evaluation of the whole cohort (n=55) according to early (before 12 hours) and late admission (after 12 hours), the rate of orchiectomy at early admission was found to be significantly lower (50% compared to 3.6 %; p=0,006). The median time from onset of symptoms to first presentation was not significantly different between group1 and 2 (p=0.439). Conclusion: Time to presentation, ischemic times, and orchiectomy rates for testicular torsion at our center were not significantly different during the COVID-19 period compared to the pre-pandemic period.

Keywords

• acute scrotal pathologies
• COVID-19 pandemic
• testicular torsion

References

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