Introduction:

Acute scrotal syndrome is a frequent cause of consultation in the pediatric emergency and the diagnosis of its etiology can really be a challenge for the pediatrician and the surgeon. There are multiple possible etiologies, with torsion of the spermatic cord being the most important due to the high incidence of gonadal necrosis that the delay in diagnosis and treatment entails. This pathology should be considered a surgical emergency. The objective of this article is to know the situation of spermatic cord torsion in our environment since there is only one study done on this pathology more than 30 years ago.

Material and method:

A descriptive and retrospective observational study was carried out. All scrototomies performed with a clinical approach to acute scrotal syndrome were identified with the suspicion of spermatic cord torsion in the period between January 1, 2015 and December 31, 2018. The patients' age, pathology was analyzed. Diagnosed intraoperatively, affected side, direction of rotation and procedure performed.

Results:

In the period between January 1, 2015 and December 31, 2018, 68 patients were diagnosed with a diagnosis of acute scrotal syndrome. Of the total, 49 patients (72 %) had spermatic cord torsion, and 16 (32.6 %) had orchiectomy. All of them underwent contralateral testicular pexia in the same surgical act.

Conclusions:

In the analyzed period, 49 patients with spermatic cord torsion were operated. In 16 cases orchiectomy was performed. A slight predominance of the right side was identified, and the direction of rotation was mainly internal, although there is an important underreporting of this data in the operative descriptions. In 72 % of the patients in whom it was decided to preserve the gonad, the surgeon describes an important testicular ischemia, so it is essential for a future article to monitor these patients to know their evolution.

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