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Medical Author:

Clifford Spanierman, MD

Medical Editor:

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, Chief Medical Editor

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, Chief Medical Editor

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, is a U.S. board-certified Anatomic Pathologist with subspecialty training in the fields of Experimental and Molecular Pathology. Dr. Stöppler's educational background includes a BA with Highest Distinction from the University of Virginia and an MD from the University of North Carolina. She completed residency training in Anatomic Pathology at Georgetown University followed by subspecialty fellowship training in molecular diagnostics and experimental pathology.

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Medical Treatment

If your doctor suspects torsion, a urologist will be notified. Depending on your history and physical, you may either be brought to the operating room or you may have imaging done. Occasionally a testicular torsion may be manually detorsed (untwisted by hand) by a physician.

Medications

In the emergency room, the patient with testicular torsion will probably receive a narcotic such as morphine for pain relief.

Surgery

The goal of surgery is to salvage the testicle. If the testicle cannot be salvaged, the testicle is removed (a procedure known as orchiectomy). If the testicle is detorsed successfully, it will be sutured within the scrotum so that it can no longer twist (called orchiopexy). The other testicle will also undergo the same fixation to the scrotum.

Other Therapy

Patients who have a nonviable testicle may return for the insertion of a prosthetic testicle. This will be done only after the urologists feels that healing from the surgery is complete.