Table 1.
Staging of acute epididymo-orchitis and its treatment
| STAGE | Palpation | SUI | TREATMENT | Efficacy of conservative treatment | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| E/T | Malacia | Hydrocele | Abscess | |||
| I | + | – | – | No | Conservative | 100% |
| II | + | – | + | None, one, or a few abscesses up to 0.5 cm in greatest dimension each one | Conservative initially. Surgery after 48-72 hours of conservative treatment failure | 85.4% |
| IIIA | – | – | + | 53.3% | ||
| IIIB | – | + – * |
+ | One or more abscesses above 0.5 cm in greatest dimension each one | Surgery | 0% |
E/T: palpable differences between epididymis and testis: + present = palpation reveals both enlarged painful epididymis and normal or insignificantly enlarged testis; – absent = on palpation, the enlarged epididymis is not differentiated from the enlarged, painful testis; * malacia was absent only in cases of large hydrocele or inability to palpate the epididymis/testis. SUI: scrotal ultrasound investigation