Testicular Pain as A Warning Symptom of a Symptomatic Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm: Case Report and Review of The Literature

Background: Isolated testicular pain is an unusual clinical presentation of symptomatic abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA). We present two patients hemodynamically stable with an isolated acute testicular pain related to an AAA and a review of the published literature up to present.

Methods: Two adult-old males with an acute isolated testicular pain presented to the emergency department. Although both cases had their symptoms for more than 24 hours and were hemodynamically stable, the misdiagnosis of a urological condition in one case and a delay of the intervention in the second resulted in a sudden drop of vital signs and the need of an urgent open surgery.

Results: A bibliographic review of the 15 published cases is presented. Most cases occurred without a previous diagnosis of AAA. Aneurysms were characteristically very large (mean 10 cm). The initial diagnosis was frequently wrong, attributing the pain mostly to genito-urinary conditions. The testicular pain presented days and even weeks before rupture, which may offer a convenient window of hemodynamic stability for repair.

Conclusions: Acute testicular pain in adult-old patients with aneurysm risk factors and specially with a first urological evaluation discarding a genitourinary disorder should alert clinicians to consider the diagnosis of a symptomatic abdominal aortic aneurysm. The early and accurate recognition of these cases may increase the survival.

CITA DEL ARTÍCULO  Ann Vasc Surg. 2022 Mar;80:395.e1-395.e5. doi: 10.1016/j.avsg.2021.10.054. Epub 2021 Nov 19.