Inguinal hernia differential diagnosis

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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Farima Kahe M.D. [2]

Differentiating inguinal hernia from other Diseases

• Inguinal hernia must be differentiated from femoral hernia, epididymitis, testicular torsion, lipomas,inguinal adenopathy, groin abscess, saphena varix, vascular aneurysm or pseudoaneurysm, hydrocele, varicocele, cryptorchidism.

Preferred Table

Diseases	Clinical features				Imagings
	Swelling	Pain	Mass	Inguinal or scrotal
Testicular torsion	+	+	+
Epididymitis	+/-	+	-	-
Hydrocele	+	-	-
Varicocele	+/-	+/-	+/-
Spermatocele	+	-
Testicular tumor	+/-	+/-	+
Epididymal cyst	-	+/-	+/-

Use if the above table can not be made

Differential Diagnosis	Similar Features	Differentiating Features
Differential 1	On [physical exam; history; diagnostic test; imaging], [Differential 1] {has; demonstrates} [feature 1], [feature 2], [feature 3] also observed in [disease name].	On [physical exam; history; diagnostic test; imaging], [Differential 1] {has; demonstrates} [feature 1], [feature 2], [feature 3] that distinguish it from [disease name].
Differential 2	On [physical exam; history; diagnostic test; imaging], [Differential 1] {has; demonstrates} [feature 1], [feature 2], [feature 3] also observed in [disease name].	On [physical exam; history; diagnostic test; imaging], [Differential 1] {has; demonstrates} [feature 1], [feature 2], [feature 3] that distinguish it from [disease name].
Differential 3	On [physical exam; history; diagnostic test; imaging], [Differential 1] {has; demonstrates} [feature 1], [feature 2], [feature 3] also observed in [disease name].	On [physical exam; history; diagnostic test; imaging], [Differential 1] {has; demonstrates} [feature 1], [feature 2], [feature 3] that distinguish it from [disease name].
Differential 4	On [physical exam; history; diagnostic test; imaging], [Differential 1] {has; demonstrates} [feature 1], [feature 2], [feature 3] also observed in [disease name].	On [physical exam; history; diagnostic test; imaging], [Differential 1] {has; demonstrates} [feature 1], [feature 2], [feature 3] that distinguish it from [disease name].
Differential 5	On [physical exam; history; diagnostic test; imaging], [Differential 1] {has; demonstrates} [feature 1], [feature 2], [feature 3] also observed in [disease name].	On [physical exam; history; diagnostic test; imaging], [Differential 1] {has; demonstrates} [feature 1], [feature 2], [feature 3] that distinguish it from [disease name].