ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a case study of a 14-year-old male who is brought into the Emergency Department with a 3-hour history of acute right-sided testicular pain associated with scrotal swelling and vomiting. He had been playing football at school prior to the pain starting. He is otherwise fit and well with no other medical problems or a history of having had surgery. This patient has acute right-sided testicular torsion. Torsion describes twisting of the spermatic cord resulting in obstruction of venous outflow with subsequent arterial occlusion, ischaemia and testicular necrosis. Torsion more commonly occurs in adolescents but in older men is associated with a high proportion of testicular malignancy, which should be ruled out. Doppler ultrasonography can evaluate blood flow to the testes if the suspicion of torsion is thought to be low enough that the patient does not require immediate surgical exploration. This decision should be made by an urologist.
