A mentally retarded boy staying in a orphanage was bought to me with a scrotal swelling. The boy is 14 years old. He looks disturbed because of pain although he was not able to speak. I examined him and found that his scrotum was swollen and very tender.
The ultrasound showed that his testes had rotated and there was no blood supply – meaning it was already dead. His caretaker says its swollen since 5 days. Poor fellow. A normal boy would have come immediately with such a swelling. His mental retardation and absence of parents had led him to loose his organ.
I had to take him up for surgery. On opening his scrotum his testes was totally dead. There was nothing that i could do for an organ that had lost its blood supply for 5 days! In normal circumstances such surgeries taken up immediately after the onset of swelling can save the testes. Most of the times I have observed that if parents are prompt and bring their child in emergency, the testes can be salvaged. If its late, the testes is lost for ever.
I also opened up the normal scrotum and fixed the right side so that he never develops this problem on that side. This is his only testes and if he looses this he will loose his masculine characteristics. Although he was mentally retarded still that organ has its function.