Value of serial ultrasound imaging in conservative management of epididymo-cutaneous fistula in a person with cervical spinal cord injury

Abstract

Epididymo-cutaneous fistula was seen in a person with cervical spinal cord injury and neuropathic bladder. This patient developed left epididymitis; then he formed an abscess superficial to the tail of the epididymis, which burst open to the skin discharging pus; subsequently, this progressed to epididymo-cutaneous fistula. A few drops of urine would leak through the fistula. The carers kept a dressing over the fistula to collect the small amount of urine leak and changed the dressing daily. This patient's carers squeezed any subcutaneous collection and drained the pus through the fistula.Serial ultrasound imaging of the scrotum was performed to guide the clinical management: (1) any subcutaneous abscess detected by the ultrasound scan was drained promptly; (2) ultrasound scans confirmed absence of any pathology in the testis; (3) the course of the disease was monitored as chronic epididymitis with echogenic debris in epididymal tail progressed to development of epididymo-cutaneous fistula and later to a chronic fistula with a matured tract. The serial scans revealed thickened tail of the left epididymis with heterogenous echo texture with no abscess formation, which encouraged the continuation of conservative management over a 5-year period while maintaining good quality of life. At the last follow-up in June 2022, leakage of urine from the epididymo-cutaneous fistula was observed very infrequently (once a month).

Keywords

• Spinal cord injury
• Neuropathic bladder
• Epididymitis
• Ultrasound imaging
• Cutaneous fistula
• Abscess