Abstract
INTRODUCTION
Acute scrotal swellings (ASS) are a common reason for emergency consultation. This study aims to determine the frequency of hospitalization for ASS at the Louga Amadou Sakhir Mbaye Regional Hospital, Senegal, to identify its clinical forms and to evaluate the care management.
METHODS
This is a retrospective descriptive study involving 114 patients hospitalized for ASS at the Louga Amadou Sakhir Mbaye regional hospital, from May 2010 to August 2013. The variables studied were: the frequency of ASS among scrotal swellings and urological emergencies, age, consultation period, causes, treatment, post-treatment evolution and hospitalization length.
RESULTS
During the study period, 356 scrotal swellings and 420 urological emergencies were recorded. Thus, 114 cases with ASS accounted for 32.0% of scrotal swellings and 27.1% of urological emergencies. The average age was 42.25 ± 25 years (5 months and 89 years represent the extremes). The median of consultation time was 4 days. The diagnosis at admission was: acute orchiepididymitis (n=66), ASS with abscess formation (n=18), suspicion of torsion of the spermatic cord (n=14), traumatic ASS (10 cases), strangulated inguinoscrotal hernia (06 cases). Treatment was exclusively medical in 66 cases (57.8 %). Surgical exploration, which was indicated in 48 patients, was performed in 45 of them (93.7%), three patients (6.2%) refused it. In total there were 9 cases with orchiectomies and 36 conservative procedures. The average length of stay in hospital was 3 ± 2 days. Eighty-one patients (71.0%) were hospitalized for at least 24 hours. They were divided into two groups: 42 surgical patients and 39 medical patients. No deaths were recorded.
CONCLUSION
ASS are common in our hospital, people of all ages can be affected. They are dominated by ASS of infectious origin, torsion of the spermatic cord and scrotal trauma. Delayed consultation is often the rule, this may affect functional prognosis of the testicle.
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