Results
There were 31 testicular torsion cases, 13 while COVID-19 pandemic and 18 in pre-COVID era. The average age of all patients was 19.45±6.47. The average age was 18.62±4.48 in COVID-19 group and 20.06±7.66 in pre-COVID-19 group. There was no significant difference between the groups in terms of age (p=0.441).
Generally, the average duration of ischemia was 19.03±22.83 hours. The average time of ischemia was 19.46±31.54 hours during the pandemic and 18.72±14.75 hours before the COVID-19 outbreak. No significant difference was detected between the groups in terms of ischemia time (p=0.115).
There was only one case (5.6%) which manual detorsion was done in the pre-COVID-19 group. During the pandemic, four (30.8%) patients underwent manual detorsion prior to elective surgery. There was no significant difference between groups in terms of patients underwent manual detorsion (p=0.242).
When the operative findings and outcomes are taken into consideration;
In the pre-COVID-19 era, out of 18 patients, six (33.3%) underwent surgical detorsion + bilateral testicular orchiopexy because the testis was viable. In seven patients (38.9%), necrotic testicular tissue was observed and orchiectomy + contralateral testicular orchiopexy was performed. In five patients, only bilateral orchiopexy was done. Four of these five patients had incomplete/partial torsion in the scrotal Doppler ultrasound prior to surgery. One patient underwent manual detorsion which was confirmed with ultrasound, so bilateral orchiopexy was done electively.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, four out of 13 patients (30.8%) underwent surgical detorsion + bilateral testicular orchiopexy, three (23.1%) underwent orchiectomy + contralateral testicular orchiopexy and six (46.2%) underwent only bilateral orchiopexy. In two patients who underwent bilateral orchiopexy, incomplete/partial torsion was detected as preoperative ultrasound finding. In four patients, emergent manual detorsion was performed and after the negative COVID-PCR test results, bilateral orchiopexy was done electively.
Concerning the operative outcomes of these patients, there was no significant difference between two groups in terms of surgical procedure (p=0.514). (Table 1)