The clinical characteristics of patients with Brucellar epididymo-orchitis

Abstract

Objective To present the distinction on clinical features, laboratory features, treatment schemes between the patients with and without brucellar epididymo-orchitis, and to provide a theoretical basis for clinical diagnosis and treatment. Methods A retrospective analysis of 223 male patients with brucellosis in the First Hospital of Jilin University from June 2010 to November 2016 was carried out. A comparative analysis of the clinical and laboratory features of 22 patients with epididymo-orchitis and 201 cases without epididymo-orchitis was done. The SPSS 23.0 software was used to analyze the statistical results, P < 0.05 was defined as statistically significant. Results Epididymo-orchitis occurred in 9.87% (22/223) of all male patients with brucellosis. The median ages of patients with and without epididymo-orchitis were 35.5 and 42.0 years old, respectively, the difference was not statistically significant (Z= 1.323, P > 0.05). Cases with and without epididymo-orchitis of brucellosis with fever [90.9% (20/22) vs 69.2% (139/201)], chills [54.4% (12/22) vs 28.9% (58/201)], hepatomegaly [22.7% (5/22) vs 3.5% (7/201)], abdominal symptoms [59.1% (13/22) vs 17.4% (35/201)], and urinary tract infection symptoms [31.8% (7/22) vs 3.5% (7/201)], the differences were statistically significant (χ2= 4.586, 6.076, 14.424, 20.392, 27.059, all P < 0.05). The medians of white blood cell (WBC) count (7.9 × 109/L), erythrocyte sedimentation value (ESR, 38.0 mm/h), and aspartate aminotransferase (AST, 110.0 U/L) in brucellosis with epididymo-orchitis were higher than those without epididymo-orchitis (5.1 × 109/L, 30.0 mm/h, 73.8 U/L), the differences were statistically significant (Z= 2.239, 2.064, 2.762, all P < 0.05). All brucellosis patients with epididymis-orchitis were treated with antibiotics for 8 weeks. The defervescence time was 4.5 days, the time of pain relief was 3.9 days, 21 patients were cured, and only 1 patient relapsed. Conclusions Epididymo-orchitis is a common complication of brucellosis. Brucellar epididymo-orchitis is usually characterized with a severe acute clinical presentation, which needs timely diagnosis. Combination of antibiotics treatment for 8 weeks in brucellosis patients with epididymis-orchitis is effective. Key words: Brucellosis; Epididymo-orchitis; Clinical features