[Surgical therapy of epididymitis]

Five hundred and seventy-five patients with acute epididymitis were hospitalized between 1979 and 1987, and 149 of them (25.9%) underwent surgery to the epididymis or the testis. For removal of the morphological alterations responsible for the inflammation, secondary operations were required in 157 cases (27.3%). We divided the patients into four age groups (under 15 years, 15-30 years, 31-60 years and more than 60 years), because the operative treatment indicated depends partly on the patient's age. For every age group the value of different follow-up examinations was checked. Prepubertal children have to be considered separately.