COMPARISON OF BLOOD-FLOW AND HISTOLOGICAL-CHANGES IN RAT MODELS OF TESTICULAR ISCHEMIA

Purpose: Our aim was to quantify objectively the degree of vascular in sufficiency produced by twisting versus clamping the spermatic cord, a nd determine the contribution of the vasal vessels to these changes us ing the laser Doppler flowmeter. Materials and Methods: Three groups o f 12 male Sprague-Dawley rats each were studied. Group 1 underwent 720 -degree torsion of the spermatic cord, group 2 underwent vascular clam ping of the spermatic cord with 1 clamp, excluding the anatomically se parate vasal vessels, and group 3 underwent vascular clamping of the e ntire spermatic cord and vasal vessels with 2 clamps. Blood flow and h istological changes were determined. Results: Vascular clamping of the spermatic cord in groups 2 and 3 resulted in a significant decrease i n testicular blood flow compared to 720-degree torsion (p <0.05). Thes e flow changes correlated with more severe and reproducible gross chan ges, and histological features of seminiferous tubule degeneration com pared to spermatic cord twisting. Conclusions: In the rat clamping the spermatic cord is a more severe and reproducible model of testicular torsion than 720-degree torsion. The contribution of the vasal vessels to the decrease in blood flow and resulting histological degeneration after testicular ischemia is negligible in the rat.