Emphysematous epididymo-orchitis: A rare entity

Abstract

Emphysematous epididymo-orchitis is a rare cause of an acute scrotum and is a surgical emergency. Diagnosis is clinically difficult, and sonography with a high-frequency probe is useful to pick up gas shadows in the scrotal wall or testicular substance. A diabetic patient presented with fever, urinary tract infection, and an acute scrotal swelling. The patient needed orchidectomy and scrotal debridement. As in emphysematous pyelonephritis, this condition occurs in diabetics, and patients may need surgery. There is a need to perform sonography in all diabetic patients with an acutely inflamed scrotum, because detection of gas shadows makes surgical intervention more likely.

Keywords

• Diabetes mellitus
• E. coli
• emphysematous
• epididymo-orchitis
• gas shadow
• infection