bello, jibril o. university of ilorin teaching hospital - department of surgery, Ilorin, Nigeria

Burden and seasonality of testicular torsion in tropical Africa: Analysis of incident cases in a Nigerian community

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Introduction: Children, adolescents and young adults in tropical Africa occasionally presents to the emer- gency department with testicular torsion. However, no estimates of the burden of the condition is available and there is also sparse evidence of a seasonal variation in incidence. Objective: To determine the incidence and seasonality of the condition in a Nigerian community. Subjects and methods: A retrospective review of incident cases of testicular torsion occurring in a typical tropical sub-Saharan African community between January 2011 and December 2016 was performed. Incidence rates were calculated and trend analysis performed to evaluate for seasonality. Results: Twenty-three patients were seen during the study period and the average annual incidence of testicular torsion among ‘at risk’ males ( 40 years) was 2.7/100,000. Testicular salvage rate was 81%. Cases occurred 91% higher than average during the cold season (November to January). Trend analysis revealed a significant seasonal difference in the number of cases seen (p = 0.045) and Post Hoc tests (Tukey) further showed that this is attributable to the seasonal difference between the cold season and the warmer early rains period (p = 0.036). Conclusion: The burden of testicular torsion found in the studied tropical sub-Saharan community is comparable to other regions of the world and seasonal variation in incidence does occur with a significant increase in cases during the cold season.

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Testicular torsion , Seasonality , Disease burden , Orchiopexy , Orchiectomy

African Journal of Urology

82