Epididymitis with abscess formation: experiences from a tertiary center in China.

Purpose: This study aimed to describe the clinical characteristics and summarize the treatment outcomes in epididymitis patients with abscess formation.

Material and methods: From February 2016 to August 2022, epididymitis was diagnosed in 442 patients in the outpatient setting or emergency department. Patient information and laboratory data were extracted from electronic medical records. The treatment was analyzed.

Results: A total of 24 epididymitis patients developed abscess formation. Pain was the most common symptoms and abscess rupture was presented in 8 patients. A causative microorganism was more likely to be positively detected in caput epididymitis than corpus or caudal epididymitis in both urine culture and abscess culture (p = 0.023 and p = 0.038, respectively). All patients received a complete course of antimicrobial therapy.

Conclusion: Abscess formation is a severe disease condition of epididymitis, and requires systemic treatment including complete antimicrobial therapy, abscess incision and drainage and even epididymectomy or epididymo-orchiectomy. Caput epididymitis is more likely to be combined with orchitis, and easier to detect pathogenic microorganisms.