• Maria Coronas-Soucheiron, Oriol Martín-Solé, Clara Massaguer, and Xavier Tarrado.
• From the Pediatric Surgery Department, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
• Pediatr Emerg Care. 2024 Apr 1; 40 (4): 279282279-282.

ObjectiveThis study aimed to determine whether being overweight during childhood is a risk factor for torsion of the appendix testis (TAT).MethodsWe conducted a paired case-control study with all boys surgically treated for TAT, paired by age and sex with patients who were seen in the emergency department for a reason other than acute scrotum. Age and weight were registered, and weight percentile (WP) by age was calculated and compared between groups. Weight percentile was classified into 4 groups (<25, 25-50, 50-75, >75), and a conditional logistic regression analysis was performed to establish the risk of TAT related to the WP.ResultsA total of 980 patients were diagnosed as having TAT in our institution, of which 118 patients (12%) were surgically treated and randomly paired with 118 controls. Mean age was the same in both groups (11.2 years, P = 0.908). Patients with TAT had a higher median of WP (79; interquartile range, 49-94) than the control group (49; interquartile range, 20-79; P < 0.0001). For each WP point increase, risk of TAT raised by 2.2% (odds ratio [OR], 1.022; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.011-1.032; P < 0.001). Weight percentile >75 increased the risk of TAT: 6-fold compared with WP <25 (OR, 5.9; 95% CI, 2.5-14; P < 0.001), 4-fold compared with WP of 25 to 50 (OR, 4.3; 95% CI, 1.8-10.5; P = 0.001), and 3-fold compared with WP of 50 to 75 (OR, 3.3; 95% CI, 1.5-7.6; P = 0.004).ConclusionsOverweight increases the risk of being operated on because of TAT. Because obesity is a rising problem, a greater incidence of TAT remains to be proved.Copyright © 2023 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.

13 keywords...

hide…