Has the Number of Pediatric Testicular Torsion Cases Abated After the Height of the COVID-19 Pandemic?

BACKGROUND: Starting in March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic represented an international public health emergency which greatly impacted healthcare delivery. Materials and methods: This retrospective analysis of pediatric testicular torsion (TT) over a 10-year period (January 1, 2015- December 31, 2024) was performed at a pediatric children's hospital in a metropolitan community. We divided our cohort into patients who were evaluated prior to COVID-19 (January 1, 2015-February 29, 2020), during COVID-19 (March 1, 2020-April 30, 2023), and after COVID-19 (March 1, 2023-December 31, 2024). We hypothesized whether the TT incidence and orchiectomy rates differed across these three time periods. RESULTS: A total of 286 pediatric patients underwent surgery for TT: 101 (35%) before the start of COVID-19, 129 (45%) during COVID-19, and 56 (20%) after the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The mean monthly case volume significantly increased from the pre-COVID-19 period (2.06) to during-COVID-19 (3.69) and post-COVID-19 (2.95) periods (p