Doctors at Hyderabad's AINU treat rare testis disorder

Doctors at the Asian Institute of Nephrology & Urology (AINU) on Sunday announced that they have successfully treated a rare 'testis' disorder called testicular torsion in a three-month-old baby boy.

The infant required an emergency surgery, to remove one damaged testis, and restore the second into the right place in the scrotum. The infant now has only one testis but will be able to lead a normal adult life in the years ahead, doctors said.

Parents of the boy, who found him crying when touched his private parts, particularly on the left side, rushed him to AINU for evaluation. Doctors at AINU diagnosed the condition as testicular torsion in which the testis is found twisted on its blood supply, causing severe pain. This condition is usually found in the neonatal and adolescent age groups or in any other pediatric age groups with lower incidence. This condition is categorised as a medical emergency, which requires immediate medical attention or surgical intervention.

This particular condition is a rare occurrence and can be found one in a lakh newborn babies.

Commenting on the case, Dr. Prabhu Karunakaran, Consultant Pediatric Urologist, Asian Institute of Nephrology & Urology said, "Testicular torsion is a condition in which the tissues that surround the testicle in the scrotum are found lax and unfixed which results in more than usual movement of testis in the scrotum, sometimes the unfixed testis rotates on its own axis losing its blood supply. A testis with its blood supply cut off is likely to get damaged, and in this case too we had to remove the left testis. We quickly fixed the other testis back, as similar anatomy can exist in the other testis and has a potential risk to undergo torsion and which could leave the child with no testis in case of such mishaps, only fixing the other testis ensures the baby's left-over testis is safe"

"The typical symptom of torsion testis is occurrence of severe pain near the testis or in the lower abdomen area. This pain is likely to get triggered during a sporting activity or any other form of physical exertion in adolescents. It is strongly advised that such pain in child's private parts is not ignored, and immediate medical attention is sought preferably within six hours which could help save the testis in cases of torsion, there could be limited other cause for such symptoms but emergency physician visit is much to rule out the rest ," added Dr. Prabhu Karunakaran.

This boy now has only one testis, which is unlikely to have any adverse impact on his adult life. However, there could be some psychological implications on the boy during his growing up days, which can be addressed through testicular implants, which is a safe medical procedure, said the doctor.