Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 24, 2026
Z-Scores for Assessing Ovarian Reserve in Young Patients Undergoing Fertility Preservation
Published on: October 25, 2024
Oophorectomy in children. Who and why: 13-year experience in a single centre
Yuen Shan Wong1, Yuk Him Tam, Kristine Kit Yi Pang
1Department of Surgery, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
Insights
Oophorectomy in children is rare. Acute abdominal pain or distension in girls may indicate ovarian torsion or neoplasms, requiring prompt investigation.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Surgery
- Gynecologic Oncology
- Pediatric Gynecology
Background:
- Oophorectomy in pediatric patients is an uncommon procedure.
- Understanding the underlying pathologies and clinical presentations is crucial for timely diagnosis and management.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the disease patterns associated with oophorectomy in children.
- To explore the relationship between underlying ovarian pathology and clinical presentation in pediatric patients.
Main Methods:
- A retrospective study of 41 children who underwent oophorectomy between June 1995 and May 2008.
- Analysis of clinical presentations, intra-operative findings, and histopathological results.
Main Results:
- The most common presentations were acute lower abdominal pain (n=20) and abdominal distension/mass (n=13).
- Ovarian torsion was confirmed in 20 cases, more frequent with acute abdominal pain (P < 0.01).
- Ovarian neoplasms (30 patients) were more common than non-neoplastic conditions (11 patients), with mature teratoma being the most frequent (52%). Malignant neoplasms presented with chronic symptoms and less torsion.
Conclusions:
- Pediatric ovarian pathology, though uncommon, necessitates prompt evaluation for ovarian torsion or neoplasms in girls with acute abdominal pain or distension.
- Early diagnosis and intervention are critical for favorable outcomes in pediatric ovarian emergencies.
Aim:
Oophorectomy performed in children is extremely uncommon. We aimed to investigate the disease pattern and the association between the underlying pathology and the clinical presentation among those patients who had their ovaries removed in their childhood.
Methods:
A retrospective study was performed on 41 consecutive children who underwent oophorectomy in a tertiary referral centre in the period between June 1995 and May 2008.
Results:
The median age was 11 years, ranged from 11 weeks to 15 years at the time of surgery. The primary presentations were acute lower abdominal pain (n= 20), progressive abdominal distension or abdominal mass (n= 13), chronic abdominal pain (n= 3), irregular menses (n= 1), antenatal diagnosis (n= 3) and incidental finding (n= 1). Ultrasound examination was performed in 31 patients and positive findings of ovarian pathology were found in all but one examination. Twenty cases of ovarian torsion were confirmed intra-operatively. Patients presenting with acute abdominal pain were more likely to have torsion than other presentations (P < 0.01). Non-neoplastic conditions and ovarian neoplasms were found in 11 and 30 patients, respectively. The most common neoplasm was mature teratoma (52%). Malignant neoplasms included immature teratoma (n= 3), dysgerminoma (n= 1), mixed dysgerminoma + yolk sac tumour (n= 2), yolk sac tumour (n= 2) and juvenile granulose cell tumour (n= 1). Malignant neoplasms were found to have more chronic presentation and less torsion than benign pathologies (P < 0.05).
Conclusion:
Although ovarian pathology is uncommon in children, a girl presenting with acute lower abdominal pain or progressive abdominal distension should raise the suspicion and prompt immediate investigation to rule out ovarian torsion or ovarian neoplasms.
