The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Admission Times, Manual Detorsion Rates, and Outcomes in Testicular Torsion

INTRODUCTION: This study aims to assess the admission times, manual detorsion rates, and outcomes of the testicular torsion cases during the COVID-19 pandemic.
METHODS: A retrospective analysis of the testicular torsion cases was done through our hospital’s electronic archive. Patients with were distributed into two groups as “COVID-19 era” (between March 11, 2020 and March 2021) and “pre-COVID-19 era” (between January 2018 and 10th of March 2020). Time between the onset of symptoms and the moment of detorsion was calculated as the duration of ischemia. Two groups were compared in terms of ischemia duration, manual detorsion rates, and operational outcomes.
RESULTS: No statistically significant differences was detected between groups in terms of ischemia duration, manual detorsion rates, and surgical procedure type (all p>0.05). During the COVID-19 pandemic, the number and percentage of manual detorsions have increased, resulting in a numerical decrease in orchiectomies.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Conditions caused by COVID-19 may prompt urologists to manual detorsion more to set up safer surgical environment. Moreover, this approach may result in a decrease in orchiectomy rates by saving time and preserving the vascularity of the testis. Further studies with larger samples sizes and meta-analyses may support this concept significantly.