Acutely painful scrotum: Tips, traps, tricks and truths

Abstract

The term ‘acute scrotum’ applies to patients presenting with scrotal pain, swelling and/or redness. It comprises a wide list of differential diagnoses, of which torsion of the spermatic cord (testicular torsion) is the most urgent to treat. The acute scrotum represents 0.3% of all paediatric emergency presentations. This article examines acute scrotal presentations and their differential diagnoses. Its intent is to arm clinicians with a pragmatic set of guidelines and an approach to diagnosis that will minimise the risk of missing a patient with testicular torsion.