Traumatic testicular dislocation after minor trauma in a pediatric patient

Traumatic dislocation of the testicle is a rare injury that may result from blunt abdominopelvic trauma. The majority of cases reportedly occur in young adults secondary to severe scrotal trauma during high-speed motorcycle crashes. Our review of the available English medical literature revealed only one pediatric case.

We present a case of pediatric testicular dislocation and torsion resulting from minor abdominopelvic trauma. The case report is followed by a brief review of the available literature.

A 10-year-old boy presented to the Pediatric Emergency Department with abdominal pain. He had suffered a strike to the abdomen and groin during an attempt at flipping over a "monkey bar" at school. A tender mass was found in his right inguinal canal and the genital examination revealed an empty right hemiscrotum. Bedside ultrasonography was used to locate the testicle and it was noted by color-flow Doppler to lack demonstrable blood flow. The patient was taken emergently to the operating room, where he underwent orchiopexy and hernia repair after a viable testicle was found. He had a subsequently uneventful recovery.

Although rare, testicular dislocation may be a serious result of abdominopelvic trauma. Emergency providers who care for trauma patients must include this condition in their differential diagnosis; to do otherwise risks a delay in diagnosis that may affect testicular viability. In this case, testicular dislocation may have resulted from the combination of trauma and a previously undiagnosed indirect inguinal hernia.