Epididymitis in children and adolescents. A 20-year retrospective study.

We identified 35 patients who had epididymitis from 1965 to 1984 by hospital chart review. The common clinical presentation was swelling, pain, and erythema. Twenty-two patients had onset of symptoms within 24 hours of hospital admission. Surgery was performed in 31 patients, 22 of whom had cultures taken from the epididymis at the time of surgery. Bacterial agents were recovered from cultures of 13 patients: coagulase-negative staphylococci were identified in nine patients. In two patients, a polymicrobic cause was found. Six patients had associated urologic abnormality. Three patients had concurrent urinary tract infection. Urologic investigation should be undertaken in children younger than 2 years old and in older patients with recurrent episodes suspected to be due to reflux of urine and associated genitourinary abnormality.