The return of the solitary testis.

PURPOSE: To assess what is done and what is recommended concerning fixation of the solitary testis.

MATERIAL AND METHOD: We conducted an e-mail survey of current practices in 28 pediatric surgery departments in 28 university or general hospitals in France. We then reviewed what evidence could be found in the literature.

RESULTS

All surgeons fix the contralateral solitary testis following intravaginal torsion. Sixteen out of 28 fix the contralateral solitary testis following extravaginal torsion, 13/28 in cases of monorchia, and 8/28 following orchiectomy for trauma or tumour. Five surgeons have observed one case each of torsion of a solitary testis, and three have witnessed testicular necrosis following orchiopexy.

CONCLUSION

There is no consensus regarding fixation of the remaining testis in the literature. Scientific evidence does not show clearly whether fixation is necessary, regardless of the clinical situation. However, if fixation is performed it should be done using the dartos pouch sutureless technique.