Experience of Fournier’s gangrene clinical diagnostics

The article represents clinical cases review of rare and serious disease - Fournier’s gangrene. 3 patients with Fournier’s gangrene aged 53±13 years were followed up in Moscow City Clinical Urological Hospital №47 and City Clinical Hospital №57 in the period from 2005 to 2015. All patients with Fournier’s gangrene were admitted to the hospital with a different referral diagnoses: «acute epididymo-orchitis», «testicular abscess», «scrotal phlegmon». Standard clinical and laboratory tests, abdominal cavity and urogenital system plain radiography and ultrasound examination were performed. For genital organs ultrasound examination a high-resolution linear transducer (6-16 MHz) was used. Ultrasonography in the admission room allowed to exclude acute scrotal diseases in all patients, Fournier’s gangrene was diagnosed in 2 patients, and suspected in 1 patient. In all patients with Fournier’s gangrene ultrasound examination revealed marked thickening of testicular coats (more than 15 mm), the accumulation of a small amount of fluid between the testicular coats and in the tunica vaginalis cavity, testicular coats intense hypervascularization; normal blood flow and the unchanged structure of the testes and epididymis. Scrotal emphysema was detected by ultrasound examination in all patients, by the plain radiography and physical examination - in 2 patients. In all cases, ultrasound helped to clarify the cause of Fournier’s gangrene: to reveal anorectal abscesses, acute prostatovesiculitis and exclude acute epididymo-orchitis, scrotal phlegmon and testicular injury. As an illustration Fournier’s gangrene observation, which occurred as an anorectal abscess complication is presented. Ultrasonography allows to confirm the Fournier’s gangrene presumptive diagnosis (to reveal soft tissue of the penis and scrotum emphysema), make differential diagnosis of Fournier’s gangrene with other external genitalia and perianal area acute diseases, determine treatment strategy.

Fournier’s gangrene, ultrasound diagnostics