Acute Adnexal Torsion: Is Immediate Surgical Intervention Associated with a Better Outcome?

We aimed to investigate whether surgery for adnexal detorsion within 6 h from admission to the hospital was associated with less adnexal ischemia.

This is a retrospective cohort study.

This retrospective study was conducted at two university-affiliated medical centers and assessed women aged 18-45 years with adnexal torsion who were hospitalized within 12 h from the pain onset and underwent surgery for detorsion within 24 h. The study group was divided into 2 groups: early, surgical intervention within less than 6 h and late, surgical intervention between 6 and 24 h. The primary outcome was the rate of macroscopic appearance of ischemic adnexa.

Two hundred and twenty women fulfilled the inclusion criteria. In 101 women, the adnexa with the torsion appeared macroscopically ischemic. There was no difference in ischemic adnexa between the early and late intervention groups (48% vs. 40%; p = 0.269). No significant association was found between the physical examination or ultrasonographic findings and the rate of ischemic adnexa within each group.

The main limitations of our study are its retrospective nature. Much of the clinical and ultrasonographic data are subjective and operator-dependent. The decision to operate may vary from one surgeon to another.

Immediate surgical intervention in patients with adnexal torsion is not associated with a lower rate of adnexal ischemia. These findings suggest that in acute adnexal torsion, there is a wider time window for a thorough evaluation before surgery.