SURGICAL-TREATMENT OF TESTICULAR TRAUMA - EFFECTS ON FERTILITY AND TESTICULAR HISTOLOGY

Unilateral testicular trauma in the postpubertal male can lead to alte rations in semen analysis, but it is not clear what effect this has on fertility To better understand how surgical treatment of testicular t rauma affects both fertility and testicular histology the following st udy was performed. Eighty postpubertal Lewis rats were divided into ei ght equal groups with one group serving as a control. In the 70 remain ing rats the left testicle was subjected to blunt or penetrating injur y. The testicles were either left untreated, were removed, or were rep aired with sutures or mesh before being returned to the scrotum. Follo wing recovery, each male was allowed to mate to determine fertility. F ertility rates were significantly lower in all postinjury groups excep t the postinjury orchiectomy group. Histological analyses showed nonsp ecific inflammation, smaller tubules, and impaired spermatogenesis in all postinjury testicles regardless of the type of treatment. Contrala teral testicles had no evidence of autoimmune injury and were essentia lly identical to the control group. In the postpubertal Lewis rat, uni lateral testicular trauma leads to impaired fertility unless the injur ed testicle is removed soon after the injury. Various methods of repai ring the injury did not improve fertility. In spite of the impaired fe rtility, the contralateral testicle appears histologically normal. Cop yright (C) 1997 by W.B. Saunders Company