Healthy Teenager Loses Testicle While on a Golf Course

A teenager picked up a ball while on a golf course and surprisingly lost one of his. Golf had nothing to do with it, especially since it's not a strenuous sport. Here's what really happened.

What Happened to the Teenager Who Lost His Testicle?

The 16-year-old boy reportedly picked up a golf ball when he noticed one of his testicles was missing. He didn't experience any trauma, as it was something he would surely not forget.

The boy wasn't really sure what happened. However, he knew that his case needed immediate medical attention.

He was rushed to the hospital and underwent a CT scan. The results showed that his left testicle moved up into his abdomen, higher than the internal inguinal ring.

He continued to suffer abdominal pain along with nausea. He used over-the-counter pain relieves to control them, Forbes reported.

It turned out that the boy's balls had unusual travel history. It was discovered shortly after his birth that his right testicle hadn't exactly descended. Normally, as a fetus, your testicles develop in your abdomen first. Your testicles progressively move from your abdomen through your groin and into your scrotum during the last few months of your pregnancy while squatting in your mother's womb. This process is known as inguinal canal descent. The testicles are called undescended testicles or cryptorchidism if they don't descend in this way.

The patient received a right orchiopexy at the age of 18 months, which was a surgical treatment to bring that ball straight down. He had previously experienced a retractile left testicle.

When he was 11 years old, a pediatric urology exam verified that the testicle was outside the scrotum at this time. Outside the scrotum, in this instance, did not imply that the testicle was flying through the air or riding a bicycle. For a while, it seemed as though the testicle had returned to his crotch; in contrast to an undescended testicle, a retractile testicle is seen as normal and typically doesn't need to be treated.

However, the case was more complicated than a retractile testicle, a condition where the testicle may move back and forth between the scrotum and the groin, per Mayo Clinic.

How Did the Doctors Solve the Teenager's Case?

The medical staff at the initial hospital evidently understood that they weren't quite as equipped on what to do in this circumstance and so referred the patient to a pediatric urology clinic for additional assessment and therapy.

The patient's left groin was sore, and there was no left testicle to be found, according to the pediatric urologists. They eventually brought the teenager into surgery, where they peered inside his abdomen with a scope.

The migrating left testicle was found in the patient's abdomen at that location. Additionally, they discovered a patent processus vaginalis, indicating the continued presence of the vaginal process.

The doctors tried to lower the left testicle back into the scrotum through the inguinal canal. Unfortunately, the size of his left testicle was too large, preventing it from passing through his inguinal canal.

As a result, the doctors had to push and tug quite a bit until the ball finally fell into position. The left testicle was then stitched to the scrotum in an attempt to prevent it from sliding back up into the abdomen after the surgeons had repaired the patent processus vaginalis. The problem was resolved adequately by surgery without any consequences.

A case report was published in the journal Urology Case Reports.

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