An American man was left with a ruptured testicle after he lost control of his motorbike and ploughed into a wall.
The 48-year-old, from New Jersey, went to hospital later that afternoon after his right testicle became so swollen he couldn’t sit down without suffering excruciating pain.
He told doctors that most of the impact from the motorbike crash ‘was to his scrotal region‘.
Medics who examined the man’s right testicle found it was unusually hard and caused pain when touched.
An ultrasound scan found the testicle had ruptured causing blood to pool inside the tissue from the artery that normally fed the reproductive organ.
Surgeons managed to save his testicle by inserting a special gel-foam into the ruptured blood vessel, only the third time such a procedure has been performed.
Medics from St. Joseph’s University Medical Center in Paterson reported the case in a medical journal
A motorcycle accident in states left one American with a ruptured testicle and caused blood to pool inside his scrotum
What causes testicular pain?
Pain in one or both testicles can be caused by a variety of things.
Sudden, severe testicle pain can be caused by twisting of the testicle, called testicular torsion.
This is a serious problem that can lead to the loss of the testicle if it’s not treated quickly.
The NHS advises people to go to A&E if they experience a sudden severe pain in a testicle.
Less serious causes of testicle pain can include: an infection, physical injury, a hernia, a build up of fluid and swollen veins.
Pain, by itself, is not usually a sign of testicular cancer
The man, who is not named, told medics that earlier that day he had lost control of his motorbike, colliding with a wall.
He said he did not fall off his bike and had not lost consciousness after the crash. But most of the impact from the collision was to his groin.
The man drove himself home after the accident and only sought medical help as the pain and swelling in his scrotum got worse and he started urinating blood.
Medics opted to use a novel minimally invasive surgical technique which involved using tiny gel-beads to block the blood vessel that was leaking into the man’s scrotum.
Using an X-ray camera, the surgeons used a tiny incision to insert the gel, an approach they said carried less risks and needed fewer blood transfusions for the patient than traditional open surgery.
This man left hospital the next day reporting no pain or swelling in his right testicle.
Detailing the incident in the journal Radiology Case Reports the authors noted it was rare for a motorcycle crash to result in this kind of specific injury.
However, they added that motorcycle accidents are the most common cause of blunt trauma to the scrotum or testicles.
The medics said quick surgical intervention to salvage as much tissue as possible.
According to Government data 4,429 motorcyclists were seriously injured in accidents in the UK in 2020 and 8,890 were slightly injured.
In the United States, there are about 89,000 motorcycle crashes annually.
