Malpractice Litigation and Testicular Torsion: A Legal Database Review, 2015–2024

The Westlaw legal database was used to search public records for relevant cases related to “medical malpractice” and “testicular torsion.” Criteria was set to include relevant cases in the correct date range (2015 - 2024). Data was dual extracted for patient/plaintiff demographics, defendant data, case outcome, settlement payments, and other information.

Emergency physicians are often the first to encounter testicular torsion and must distinguish the diagnoses among other causes. The consequences of not identifying testicular torsion in time can include necrosis of the affected testicle, and associated litigation. A study completed in 2015 (Colaco et al) analyzed lawsuits from 2000 - 2013 and concluded that emergency physicians were significantly more likely to be included in malpractice lawsuits for testicular torsion. Using the updated range of 2015 - 2024, the object of this study is to determine malpractice claims, verdict outcomes, and payments for testicular torsion malpractice cases. Secondarily, the data will be compared to the initial 2015 study for analysis for trends.

Eighteen cases met the inclusion criteria with 62% ruling in favor of the defendant with a majority through a trial verdict. Emergency physicians and urologists were nearly equally named as defendants, consisting of 28% and 22% of defendants respectfully. The most common claim for malpractice was misdiagnoses of epididymitis. Defendants were more likely to owe higher indemnity payments if they lost through a trial verdict than a pre-trial settlement. Thirteen cases specified whether ultrasound was utilized with 31% of cases seeing use compared to 69% without. Defendants were more likely to succeed if ultrasound was not used.

Testicular torsion is a time-sensitive condition that requires skilled identification and medical care. Emergency physicians and urologists alike are at risk of possible malpractice lawsuits. It is difficult to assess whether or not ultrasound improved defense litigation status.