Adnexal torsion. A clinical dilemma.

We retrospectively reviewed 33 cases of surgically managed adnexal torsion at the University of Tennessee Medical Center, Knoxville. Our interest was to observe any trends in age, parity, side involved, size, previous surgery, pathologic diagnosis or preoperative diagnosis. We found that there was no dominance in the side involved, as hypothesized by others. The most common previous surgery was bilateral tubal ligation, and the most common preoperative diagnosis was a pelvic mass. There is no absolute profile for the patient with adnexal torsion, and the clinician must be suspicious in all cases involving abdominal pain.