ABSTRACT
We performed surgical treatment in 18 cases of torsion of the spermatic cord during the past four years. Patient age ranged from 2 to 54 years old : 13 cases were 16 or less. Torsion involved the left side in 11 cases. Surgical detorsion was performed in 10 cases, but in the other 8 cases orchiectomy was unavoidable. Of 8 cases treated with orchiectomy, the diagnosis was delayed in 7 cases due to mistaken diagnosis, primarily epididymitis by doctors in local clinics and general hospitals. The time of delay in the orchiectomy group ranged from 54 hours to 2 weeks with the average of 6.28 days. For one case, the visit to our hospital was too late. In 10 cases treated with surgical detorsion, all of the patients visited our hospital within 48 hours. Improvement of the testis salvage rate requires that adolescents, their families and teachers should learn to recognize this disease, and particularly doctors of other departments should recognize it as acute scrotum.