Penetrating Scrotal Injury: Two Unusual Case Reports in Children and Brief Review of Literature

Introduction: Scrotal trauma is a rare surgical emergency that accounts for less than 1% of all traumatic injuries. They are more prevalent in 15-40 years age group. Blunt scrotal trauma contributes to about 80% of all scrotal injuries whilst penetrating scrotal injuries constitute the remaining 20%. Penetrating scrotal injuries are however, more rare in children but can result from bicycle handlebars, falls with impalement, and animal bites.

Case Reports: We did a retrospective review of our records over a 7-year period for penetrating scrotal injuries and report two (2) cases involving 13-year old and 14-year old males who sustained injuries from a tree branch and an iron rod respectively after falling from heights.

Discussion: Penetrating scrotal trauma can present with complex injury patterns involving the testes and other surrounding structures, and all invariably need urgent scrotal exploration. Consequently, both of our cases had immediate surgical exploration with conservative debridement of non-viable tissue and surprisingly both were spared any testicular injury.

Conclusion: Penetrating scrotal trauma may spare the testis and the scrotal contents despite the gravity of the injury.