Sepsis presenting as an acute purulent neonatal epididymo-orchitis: case report

Abstract

Epididymitis, epididymo-orchitis, and infected hydrocele are uncommon in the neonatal period. It is very important to diff erentiate these entities from testicular torsion to salvage the aff ected testis and avoid unnecessary surgical exploration. Escherichia coli is an important and common cause of sepsis in neonatal period and also a common bacterium causing epididymo-orchitis from ascending route. We report a case of a newborn aff ected with epididymo-orchitis caused by early onset Escherichia coli sepsis. It is diffi cult to diff erentiate epididymo-orchitis from testicular torsion in neonatal period because the clinical signs of testicular torsion and epididymo-orchitis are similar. Color Doppler ultrasonography has an important role in diff erentiation of testicular torsion from epididymo-orchitis. In spite of clinical signs and ultrasonography, in some cases surgical exploration cannot be avoided to confi rm the accurate diagnosis.