Orchialgia and the chronic pelvic pain syndrome

Abstract

This review paper highlights the important health issue of orchialgia and the chronic pelvic pain syndrome. There are a number of specific and non-specific etiologies and different treatment options based on the sub-categorization of orchialgia. The focus of this article is on the specific etiologies of chronic orchialgia as well as non-specific scrotal pain, and the diagnostic evaluation and optimal management of these men. The clinician must be cautious about assuming that orchialgia is constitutive in the chronic pelvic pain syndrome, and must be diligent in ruling out specific etiologies for scrotal pain prior to managing orchialgia as a non-specific chronic pain syndrome.