Article Text

Download PDFPDF
Diagnostic dilemma of isolated fallopian tube torsion
  1. Michael Gerard Baracy Jr1,
  2. Janie Hu2,
  3. Holly Ouillette1 and
  4. Muhammad Faisal Aslam3
  1. 1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ascension St John Hospital, Detroit, Michigan, USA
  2. 2School of Medicine, St Georges University, True Blue, Grenada
  3. 3Department of Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery, Ascension St John Hospital, Detroit, Michigan, USA
  1. Correspondence to Dr Michael Gerard Baracy Jr; Michael.Baracy{at}ascension.org

Abstract

Paratubal cysts are fluid-filled sacs that grow adjacent to the fallopian tube which can rarely result in torsion. Isolated fallopian tube torsion (IFTT) is a gynaecological emergency that warrants urgent laparoscopic detorsion to salvage the affected tube. IFTT has a proclivity to affect adolescents between the ages of 12 and 15 years and is rarely seen in premenarchal or perimenopausal women. Due to a lack of pathognomonical features, IFTT is difficult to diagnose. Adnexal torsion, including IFTT is a surgical diagnosis and no clinical or imaging criteria is sufficient to diagnose IFTT. Urgent laparoscopy and detorsion are required for preservation of the affected fallopian tube. However, given the diagnostic ambiguity, IFTT diagnosis is often delayed. IFTT should be included in the differential diagnoses for adolescent patients with acute abdomen when imaging demonstrates a normal appendix and ovaries. We report a 15-year-old girl with a 4-day history of abdominopelvic pain and bilateral paratubal cysts resulting in right IFTT.

  • obstetrics
  • gynaecology and fertility
  • reproductive medicine
  • general surgery
  • paediatric surgery
  • ultrasonography

Statistics from Altmetric.com

Request Permissions

If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.

Footnotes

  • Contributors MGB Jr and JH wrote the manuscript. HO contributed to the content of the manuscript and was integral in the editing of the manuscript. MFA was chief editor of the transcript.

  • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

  • Competing interests None declared.

  • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.