Acute scrotal pain in children: prospective study of diagnosis and management

Forty-eight boys were assessed for an acutely painful scrotum. Thirty-six (75%) of them underwent radionuclide scanning of the scrotum; the average age of this group was 11 years. The scan revealed epididymitis in 19 cases, spermatic cord torsion in 9, appendix testis torsion in 7 and acute hernia-hydrocele in 1. The diagnosis was confirmed at operation in all nine cases of spermatic cord torsion. Boys who had epididymitis received antibiotics only; all were available for short-term follow-up, and 16 were also assessed at a mean of 6 months after infection. Only one boy had testicular atrophy; he had undergone repair of an inguinal hernia, which could not be ruled out as a cause. Bacteriuric epididymitis occurred in three boys; two had known predisposing genitourinary anomalies, the third had no abnormalities. Boys who had nonbacteriuric epididymitis were investigated by renal and pelvic ultrasonography or voiding cystourethrography; no important abnormalities were detected. This prospective study indicates that radionuclide scanning can reliably differentiate spermatic cord torsion from other acute scrotal disease.