I found my three yo stallion today with a huge swelling in his scrotum, testicles are not palpable, it is hot to the touch, but doesn't seem very painful;
he is housed with two other stallions (2 and 3 yo, has been with them all winter, and he used to be the boss), and I found him a couple of days ago very stiff and he was sore at some places, so I figured he had either got stuck in the big stall they share, or got hurt plating with his mates...
so today he is extremely stiff, not lame but reluctant to walk, no colic, the swelling includes only the scrotum, but not the sheath and he is able to exteriorise and retract his penis normally and it looks normal.
I don't think he could have got a kick, because he was sore these past days, so he wasn't playing stallions games with his brothers.
he has had strangles with jaw abcesses only two weeks or so before, can orchitis be a complication of strangles ?
can an orchitis result in permanent infertility ?
he has had banamine, antibiotic (penicillin/clavulanic acid) and hosing of the zonz with cold wwater, what else can I do ?
yes, I know, actually I'm a vet and I did ask a colleague for advice, this seems to be an orchitis secondary to strangles, and we are treating it accordingly, but it's not very common, we have never seen this before, so I would like information on prognosis, I think prognosis is poor for future fertility, oh well, that's not too bad he'll have to be gelded then;
BUT ! if it is caused by strangles, is it likely he has bastard strangles and internal abcesses, then his life prognosis is not good, or is there a good chance that after this orchitis he'll be ok ?
regarding castration later, are there special precautions for a horse who has had orchitis, adherences or something else ?
The sequence of upcoming events and the outcome is going to depend tremendously on what happens next (obviously!). I suspect that you are already well towards as much of a diagnosis as you can get right now yourself from what you have written. Future fertility if the orchitis resolves will depend upon residual lesions and other tissue damage (if any) - obviously short-term fertility is highly likely (almost certainly) to be negatively impacted, but it may not be the kiss of death for long term fertility. I think your current treatment is correct, although if he will tolerate it, the addition of cold packs as well as the cold hosing to the testicles may be beneficial in reducing inflammation/temperature and therefore possibly tissue damage.
Ultrasounding the testicles after resolution to evaluate for lesions or fluid (hematocoele/hydrocoele) or other issues may be valuable for fertility evaluation but also prior to castration.
Residual infection of the secondary sex glands may be worthy of consideration and prolonged antibiotic treatment to avoid/resolve that may be of value.
If you have access to a veterinary teaching university for consultation, that may be of value, as this is a little unusual, but such a facility may have dealt with similar cases before.
Please let us know how everything resolves (or doesn't) - it's an interesting case.
Good luck!
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