Medical Questions » Male Problems Questions » Question No. 621
| Question: | My teenage son recently had one of his testes removed because of torsion. Please warn parents about this dreadful disease! |
| Answer: | A man' s testes and a woman' s ovaries both start life together inside the abdomen of a foetus. Just before birth, the testes start migrating through the wall of the lower abdomen to settle in the scrotum, while the ovaries remain behind in the abdomen to lie beside the womb.
As they migrate through the muscles, fat and fibrous tissue of the abdominal wall, the testes trail behind them the arteries, veins, nerves and sperm tube that connect them to the body and keep it nourished and healthy. These pass through a tube called the inguinal canal back into the abdomen.
Torsion of the testes is a medical emergency, and treatment delayed for more than 12 hours can have serious consequences.
If the testis, hanging from its network of veins, arteries and nerves, twists horizontally, these vital connections to the body may have undue pressure placed upon them, and the blood supply to the testicle can be cut off. The testis then dies unless the tubes are surgically untwisted.
The victim experiences pain, and the testes become red, swollen and tender.
This problem usually occurs in teenage boys, and is almost unknown over 30 years of age. Any such symptoms should result in immediately seeing a doctor. |
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