What happens if you rip your scrotum

Reproductive system - male. Home Reproductive system - male. Testicle injuries and conditions. Actions for this page Listen Print. Summary Read the full fact sheet. On this page. Testicle anatomy Testicular torsion Symptoms of testicular torsion Torsion of the appendix testicle Testicular cancer Other testicular conditions Trauma to the testicles Reducing the risk of testicular problems Where to get help.

Testicular torsion The spermatic cord attaches the testicle to the body. Symptoms of testicular torsion Symptoms of testicular torsion include: severe pain scrotal swelling nausea and vomiting. Torsion of the appendix testicle The appendix testicle is a small tissue structure located at the upper third of the testicle. Testicular cancer Testicular cancer is an abnormal growth or tumour that appears as a hard and usually painless lump in either testicle.

Other testicular conditions Other conditions that can affect the testicles include: epididymitis — the epididymis is a collection of small tubes located at the back of each testicle. It collects and stores sperm. Epididymitis is infection and inflammation of these tubes. Causes include urinary tract infections and sexually transmissible infections STIs. Treatment is usually antibiotics epididymo-orchitis — this is infection of the epididymis, testicle or both, causing inflammation and pain.

Treatment is usually antibiotics varicocele or varicose veins — 10 to 15 per cent of men have a varicocele, occurring where veins draw blood from the testicle.

When a man stands up, blood in the veins has to move against gravity to return to the heart. Valves in the veins help this process. The links between varicocele and infertility are not fully understood and research is ongoing.

Treatment may include surgery or radiological techniques that can block the affected testicular veins, and redirect the blood flow into unaffected veins haematocele — this is a blood clot caused by trauma or injury to the testicles or scrotum. In some cases, the body is able to reabsorb the blood. If not, the person will need surgery to remove the clot hydrocele — this is an abnormal build-up of fluid that causes the affected testicle to swell.

In some cases, the body can reabsorb the fluid. Even though the condition is painless, the hydrocele may become so large that the person will need surgery to remove it spermatocele — this is an abnormal build-up of sperm-filled fluid next to the epididymis, which feels like a separate lump on the testicle. This is harmless, but can be removed surgically if it becomes large or bothersome. It is more common after a vasectomy undescended testicles — either one or both testicles are missing from the scrotum and are lodged inside the lower abdomen.

Premature and low-weight newborn boys are most prone to undescended testicles. This condition is a known risk factor for testicular cancer and strongly related to infertility. Unless the testicle is brought down into the scrotum by 12 months of age, there is a high risk of damage to sperm production in later life.

Trauma to the testicles Testicles are easily injured because they are not protected by muscle or bone. The main types of possible injuries include: penetrating for example, a bite or stab wound impact from a moving object for example, a kick to the testicles impact from hitting an immovable object for example, a fall onto a hard surface.

The result of such trauma could be ruptured blood vessels or tearing of the testicle. Medical Articles Medicine Dosages Medical Articles Medical Conditions Allergy vs. Assessment and Treatment of Youth Suicidality Michael Visconti, LMHC, spoke to our medical team and shared his expertise on better assessing and screening our patients for self-harm and suicide. Congratulations to our Team. Mark A. Michelle C. Current American Urologic Association guidelines support ultrasound US in blunt scrotal trauma [ 8 ].

The main goal of US is to assess the vascular perfusion and integrity of the testes and distinguish testicular rupture from other injuries. The normal tunica albuginea in US appears as a thin echogenic line surrounding the testicular parenchyma and is challenging to appreciate especially in the presence of scrotal contusion [ 10 ].

Acute bleeding or contusion of the testicular parenchyma typically appears as a hyperechoic area, whereas old blood may be hypoechoic. Heterogeneous parenchyma echotexture and irregular margins are typical characteristics of testicular rupture. Additional sonographic findings include disruption of the tunica vaginalis, fracture lines through the testicle, decreased or loss of blood flow on color Doppler sonography, scrotal thickening, and hematocele formation [ 3 , 6 , 10 ].

Doppler imaging plays an important role in directing management; the presence of vascularity within the testicular parenchyma is indicative of its salvageability [ 3 ].

Some false-negative testicular rupture cases diagnosed by US have been reported, leading to misdiagnosis, and delayed surgical intervention [ 6 ]. Other imaging studies, such as contrast-enhanced US, nuclear imaging, or magnetic resonance imaging MRI , have been used to obtain additional information in equivocal cases [ 10 ]. Ultimately, testicular rupture is a surgical diagnosis.

Persistent symptoms or a concerning examination along with a corresponding history, regardless of imaging findings, requires operative exploration [ 1 ]. Point-of-care ultrasound POCUS has increasingly been used for early investigation of the acute scrotum [ 4 ]. However, the literature is limited to case reports, and two retrospective studies [ 1 , 4 , 5 , 9 , 11 ]. Using a high frequency linear array probe, the testes should be individually visualized.

Identification of the presence of a heterogeneous echo pattern of the testicular parenchyma, with a loss of definition of the outer contour, is highly correlative with testicular injury [ 12 ]. Current management strategy for testicular rupture is surgical exploration and repair within 72 hours. Surgery includes evacuation of the hematocele, debridement, and primary closure of the tunica albuginea. Additional benefits from early surgical intervention may include preserving testicular function, quicker symptom control, shorter hospital stay, and earlier return to play.

However, there is no evidence to suggest inferior outcomes following the conservative management of testicular trauma. Cubillos et al. Their results showed that neither testicular atrophy nor abnormal echogenicity were detected by US in 6-months follow-up, and only 1 patient needed surgery to relieve a hydrocele 4 months after trauma. Conservative regimen includes scrotal support, proper pain control, ice pack, bed rest, and serial ultrasound [ 1 ].

In summary, scrotal ultrasound is the first line imaging modality for the diagnosis of testicular trauma. The ultrasound findings of testis rupture include focal parenchymal echo texture heterogeneity due to hematoma or contusion, discrete intraparenchymal fracture plane, outer testicular contour abnormality, disruption of the tunica albuginea, and hematocele formation.

In the setting of conservative management follow-up, ultrasound is also vital to evaluate for an enlarging hematoma. Current management strategy for testicular rupture is surgical exploration and repair, ideally within 72 hours to maximize salvage. The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this paper.

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Article of the Year Award: Outstanding research contributions of , as selected by our Chief Editors. Read the winning articles. Journal overview. Academic Editor: Henry David.

Received 01 May Revised 04 Oct Accepted 09 Nov Published 19 Dec Abstract Testicular rupture after blunt scrotal trauma is characterized by rupture of the tunica albuginea and extrusion of seminiferous tubules.

Introduction Blunt scrotal trauma is a common occurrence in male athletes, but serious injuries are rare despite the vulnerable position of the testicles. Case Presentation A year-old healthy male was hit in the scrotum by a lacrosse ball.

Figure 1. Left testicle sagittal plane. There is abnormal tunica albuginea thickening [ without obvious disruption, a moderate-sized hematocele , and a linear hypoechoic fracture line between white arrows separating a heterogenous appearing testicular parenchyma. Normal testicular parenchyma is present to the left with an abnormal appearance testicle to the right of the fracture line, consistent with an intratesticular contusion.