ULTRASOUND EVALUATION OF THE SCROTUM IN PEDIATRICS.

During the past three years, we have encountered many children with clinically suspected scrotal abnormalities. It may be difficult using clinical criteria alone to accurately determine the underlying abnormality. Therefore, a sensitive imaging modality is necessary to clearly demonstrate the scrotal contents so that appropriate therapy can be instituted early. Our retrospective study was performed to assess the efficacy of grey scale ultrasound (US) in evaluating and identifying specific scrotal pathology. We performed a retrospective review of scrotal US performed on 66 patients, aged 4 days to 23 years, with a median age of 10. 8 years. The US findings were accurate in 63/66 patients. Our study demonstrates that grey scale US is a reliable, accurate, non-invasive, non-ionizing, relatively inexpensive, and rapid imaging modality for the evaluation of scrotal abnormalities in children. It is of utmost importance for the radiologist to carefully inspect and palpate the scrotum and its contents, both prior to and during, the US examination in order to accurately correlate the US findings with the clinical impression.