By Our Reporter
HEALTH/NATIONAL
Acute scrotal pain that many men usually take for granted may actually be Testicular Torsion (TT), a condition if not handled within six hours from occurrence leads to complete removal of the affected testicle.
Here is a testimony verbatim given by a doctor on tweeter.
Few weeks ago, while on duty in the emergency ward, I met a young student who had been having left scrotal pain for 3days. The pain was so bad it affected how he walked. When he noticed the pain initially, he had hoped it would disappear after a little while.
When it didn’t, he went to a center where he was given antibiotics. Perhaps they thought he had orchitis. Turns out he had testicular torsion. By the time he got to the hospital where I work, it was too late to save the testicle.
Blood supply had been cut off from it for too long & the cells there had long died. The only thing to do was to take the testicle out. “Thankfully”, it was only one testicle, not the 2, if not, that very young man would have been unable to have children, & some of the plans he had might have come to an abrupt halt.
I’m telling this story, because I feel Testicular Torsion (TT) is something most people are really not aware of. That case isn’t the only one I’ve seen. Some others have had it happen to both testes, at the same time, and presented too late to save the testes.
TT happens when the spermatic cord (which contains vessels that supply blood to the testes) twists, such that blood circulation to and from the testes is impaired, which could lead to tissue death and subsequent need to remove the testes.
Here’s the whole point
Once a male starts having severe scrotal pain that just starts on its own, or pain that still lingers for a while after trauma to that area, just rush them to the nearest tertiary center (general or referral hospital) around you, please!
Salvaging the testes can only be guaranteed if the surgery to “untwist” the vessels supplying the testes occur within 6 hours of onset of the pain. Yes, 6 HOURS ONLY, so there’s no time to lose.
Please let the young males in contact with you know about this. Let them not endure it, hoping that it will just go. It’s better to be safe, than sorry.
Testicular torsion often occurs several hours after vigorous activity, after a minor injury to the testicles or while sleeping. Cold temperature or rapid growth of the testicle during puberty also might play a role.
