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. 2003 Fall;5(4):209–215.

Table 1.

Definition and Classification of Chronic Epididymitis

Definition: A 3-month or longer history of symptoms of discomfort/pain in the scrotum/testicle or epididymis that are localized to one or both epididymides on clinical examination.
Classification:

  1. Inflammatory chronic epididymitis: pain and discomfort associated with abnormal swelling and induration

    1. Infective (eg, chlamydia)

    2. Postinfective (eg, after acute bacterial epididymitis)

    3. Granulomatous (eg, tuberculosis)

    4. Drug-induced (eg, amiodarone)

    5. Associated with a known syndrome (eg, Behçet’s disease)

    6. Idiopathic (ie, no identifiable etiology for inflammation)

  2. Obstructive chronic epididymitis: pain or discomfort associated with congenital, acquired, or iatrogenic obstruction of epididymis or vas deferens (eg, congenital obstruction or surgical scarring after vasectomy)

  3. Chronic epididymalgia: pain or discomfort in a normal-feeling epididymis associated with no identifiable etiology (ie, epididymis is normal but tender on palpation)