Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2019
College/Unit
School of Medicine
Department/Program/Center
Urology
Abstract
Background: Testicular torsion (TT) is a urologic emergency that requires prompt surgical intervention. In rural Appalachia, patients are often transferred from surrounding communities due to lack of urologic care. We hypothesized that those transferred would have delayed intervention and higher rates of orchiectomy when compared to those who presented directly to our hospital. Methods: We performed a retrospective review of patient charts with an ICD-9 diagnosis of TT from 2008 to 2016. Patients met inclusion criteria if diagnosis was confirmed by operative exploration. We compared rate of testicular loss and time until surgical intervention between groups. Results: Twenty-three patients met inclusion criteria (12 transferred, 11 direct). Patient demographics did not significantly differ between groups. Transferred patients had a higher orchiectomy rate (33% v 22%,p = 0.41) although this was not statistically significant. Time to surgery from symptom onset was significantly longer in those transferred (12.9 h) compared to those not transferred (6.9 h, p = 0.02). Distance of transfer was not correlated with time of delay (r2 = 0.063). Conclusions: Transferred patients with TT have numerically higher rates of orchiectomy which may reach significance in an appropriately powered study, and relative delays in surgical intervention. This study highlights the need for improved access to urologic care in rural areas.
Digital Commons Citation
Overhoolt, Tyler; Jessop, Morris; Al-Omar, Osama; and Barnard, John, "Pediatric testicular torsion: does patient transfer affect time to intervention or surgical outcomes at a rural tertiary care center?" (2019). Faculty & Staff Scholarship. 2080.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/faculty_publications/2080
Source Citation
Overholt, T., Jessop, M., Barnard, J., & Al-Omar, O. (2019). Pediatric testicular torsion: does patient transfer affect time to intervention or surgical outcomes at a rural tertiary care center? BMC Urology, 19(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12894-019-0473-5
Comments
© The Author(s). 2019 Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.