Does propofol prevent testicular ischemia–reperfusion injury due to torsion in the long term?

Abstract

Our aim was to investigate the long-term preventive effect of propofol on testicular ischemia-reperfusion injury in a rat model. Twenty-four adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into four groups (n = 6 for each group), control, sham-operated, torsion/detorsion (T/D) and T/D + propofol. Testicular ischemia was achieved by twisting the left testis 720° clockwise for 2 h. Half an hour before detorsion, 50 mg/kg propofol was given intraperitoneally to the T/D + propofol group. Ipsilateral orchiectomies to determine mean testicular weights and histopathological examination according to Johnsen's mean testicular biopsy score criteria were performed 30 days after surgical procedure in all groups. Mean testicular weights were 1.57 ± 0.12 g in group I, 1.59 ± 0.36 g in group II, 0.84 ± 0.20 g in group III and 0.87 ± 0.29 g in group IV. Mean testicular weights decreased significantly in the T/D groups, but no improvement in testicular weight was observed with propofol administration (p 0.9372). Similarly, the Johnsen's mean testicular biopsy scores of the T/D groups were lower than those of the control and sham-operated groups, but no positive effect was determined with the administration of propofol in the T/D groups (p 0.1797). Our results showed that there is no apparent long-term therapeutic potential attendant on using propofol in the treatment of testicular ischemia-reperfusion injury caused by testis torsion.