This site is intended for healthcare professionals

Go to /sign-in page

You can view 5 more pages before signing in

Acute groin and scrotal pain

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

Causes include:

  • strangulated hernia, inguinal or femoral - tender, painful, irreducible groin lump. May present as intestinal obstruction or abdominal pain
  • torsion of the testis - a sudden onset unilateral scrotal pain. There may be an associated poorly-localised abdominal pain. In an early presentation the testis lies high in the scrotum, is exquisitely tender and the spermatic cord is thickened. The opposite testis may lie horizontally - bell-clapper testis
  • torsion of the hydatid of Morgagni - again this is a sudden onset unilateral scrotal pain. However in this case there is only tenderness at the upper pole of the testis, and the testis hangs normally
  • acute epididymitis - moderate or severe scrotal pain and tenderness; also marked redness and oedema. There is often a history indicative of a previous urinary tract infection
  • haematocoele - eg following trauma or scrotal surgery for vasectomy
  • appendicitis: the appendix has the same visceral afferent nerve supply (T10) as the testes and this can cause referred pain

Related pages

Create an account to add page annotations

Add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation, such as a web address or phone number. This information will always be displayed when you visit this page