In A&E with 17 year old and worried we are being fobbed off

[NinnyNewName]

Displaying the symptoms of testicular torsion. Started Thursday. Pain level a 6/7. This morning was doubled over in bathroom (I was in room next door and heard him). Pain a 9.

Been rushed through A&E which we are grateful for.

But doctor said it's not that because 1) the pain isn't constant and 2) no nausea and vomitting and 3) they feel normal.

I'm not happy. From what I've read the pain comes and goes, there's not always sickness and they can feel normal.

Sometimes surgery is required to diagnose.

The stakes feel very high. If it goes on too long there's a risk to the testicles.

DH dropped us and is on the way.

But I am not happy anyone for any experience/what should I do?

I didn't see it Don't which sounds like a blessing.

@NinnyNewName

I didn't see it Don't which sounds like a blessing.

It wasn't horrible or rude and it wished you well..l had included a bit about me which was wholly irrelevant and I didn't want to derail your thees.

How was he overnight? I do hope there's been no more pain

Thanks for asking Haba. He thought he had a little pain before bed but he wasn't sure if it was in his mind. I woke him at 9. He's Y13 and had important tests this week and is a bit behind with study (that's a whole other post!).

(Obviously his health is far more important and he knows this). I told him to get out of bed slowly and to sit on the edge of the bed for a few minutes before getting up (seeing as it's happened within an hour of getting up both times). He also slept in pants (usually naked). DH and I had wondered if things were getting twisted due to him being naked. Doubtful but just trying to do whatever we can to prevent another episode.

I'm going for a run soon but otherwise I'll be here all day keeping a close eye. Driving him mad with an hourly "any pain?"

I can't imagine nudity would be a contributing factor- we are born without clothes!
I hope all goes well at the appointment tomorrow.

How did it go with the urologist?

Op, I wish your son well and hope this resolves. Also, thanks for posting, I have never heard of this and have two little boys, so it’s very useful information.

Thanks for asking. Haba re nudity it was more about keeping the body parts in place vs increasing the potential to twist. Just trying to think of anything to help!

The appointment was okay. It wasn't with a consultant as we were advised. It was with a doctor who looked about 12, but a urology doctor at least.

I had to reference the NHS guidelines again and he was a bit off but that didn't deter me.

He said he'd refer for a scan but "I doubt it will be today, it will probably be later in the week". Now, on arrival at the hospital we were sent to urology outpatients as per the instructions from Saturday. We spoke to reception there and the consulting sonographer was present. No record of us but asked what it was about. Sonographer said "I can do that today for you, I just need a form". Then they sent us to the emergency clinic which is where we were apparently supposed to be.

So I said to this doctor "we've already seen the sonogropher (gave his name to prove it) and he said he can do a scan immediately". So, long story short he had the scan. Normal apart from a little bit of swelling.

He's going to refer to his more senior colleagues and we'll get an appointment for a check up.

Took a while for him to understand what I was saying about the intermitten nature of it. And agree that it's a grey area . (He started off by saying "well given that it was more than 6 hours the testicle might not be viable anyway, what's happened has happend": in front of DS.

To which I tried to patiently explain that the pain last 5 minutes. Then he said well it's not happened since Saturday so I'm sure it's fine. To which I said yes, but it happened Thursday and Saturday, 48 hours apart.

Honestly, I don't feel massively reassured.

I have also found two local private urologists and DH is sorting is private health. Just as a back up.

I'm a paediatric nurse. I'm suprised he's not been taken straight to theatre. A testicular torsion is a surgical emergency. Have you gone to a district general hospital. Or large teaching hospital and is he under adults or paediatrics?

Not trying to scare you but it doesn't sound like torsion.
If it was torsion he needed to go straight for surgery no if or buts.

Ah, I se he's under paediatrics. Which is probably better than adults. The not wanting to do surgery over the weekend excuse is absolute rubbish.

Toddler I'm not sure if you've read the thread (I appreciate you're busy so no problem!). We are halfway between a large teaching hospital/major trauma centre and a district general. I chose the latter because I thought it was be much less busy. I'm regretting that.

The testicle is not in a state of torsion. It seems to be in a state of flux, if it is indeed that. Ie it has happened twice - for 5 minutes each time - in a 48 hour period. Bad enough that he sank to his knees on and couldn't talk/had to deep breathe.

This seems to be the issue. From what I have read from the NHS commissioned guidelines, inspection/scan should not be used for diagnosis so I half expected him to have an exploratory op. But that has not been forthcoming.

So we are on tenterhooks and if it happens again I will whizz him straight to the A&E of the major hospital.

Rudolph a scan didn't show any lumps or bumps. Some increased vascularity but that was it.

Why do you think it doesn't sound like torsion? I am no expert, but from my research it sounds like an intermitten torsion which is very hard to diagnose deal with.

Trouble is, we turned up to A&E, and the appointment yesterday, and he was in no pain. Looked fine. Was able to let them examine him. Vs had they seen him in the 2 x 5 minutes when he was on the floor it would be a different story. I don't even think I could have got him to hospital: we'd have had to call an ambulance and he'd have needed gas and air. So I do appreciate the seriousness of a torsion.

bjui-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1464-410X.2005.05482.x#:~:text=Intermittent%20testicular%20torsion%20is%20defined,be%20relieved%20by%20manual%20detorsion.

This is what I have read.

My ds(12) had this He had a pain, but it come and go. We didn't even realise how serious it was because he seemed fine, and never shown us where it was really hurting. Few days later, he was in more pain, and started to swell up, so went to a&e and had surgery on the same day. Surgeons said they aren't totally sure what's happening until they open up, but there was definitely something wrong so we were happy for them to do whatever they needed to do.
Thanksfully, caught it before it was too late.

This is my exact worry past and it's why I won't rest. I hope your son is fully recovered now. How often/over what period did he have the pain?

He started to complain having a pain 3/4 days before we took him to A&E. He first said he has a stomach ache, and he was never in agony. And it was never constant pain, he complained when he moved, mostly.

Few days later, he was still having a pain, though not constant, but he actually shown us where he had a pain, and it looked swelled up. But we were still not sure what to do. I actually asked on MN what to do, and everyone said go to A&E so we did. Thank god for that.

It was quite straight forward from there, we got all the different drs come and check, ultra sound was taken, surgeons come and have look, and he was prepped for surgery.