Although scrotal inflation by saline infusion has been widely publicised on websites,^1,2 this procedure has rarely been reported in the medical literature. We report an HIV positive man who presented with severe scrotal cellulitis following an infusion of saline into his scrotum. Clinicians should be aware of unusual causes of scrotal cellulitis and should warn patients about potential complications of this hazardous practice. To our knowledge, this has never previously been reported in an HIV positive patient.

CASE REPORT

A 52 year old homosexual white man, HIV positive since 1996, presented in April 2005 with a 2 day history of painful scrotal swelling. He had obtained information and a disposable scrotal infusion toolkit from a website³ and had infused 2½ litres of normal saline into his scrotum over 2 hours, 3 days previously. He had done this many times before without complications and the swelling had previously resolved over 2 days. On this occasion he sought medical advice because the pain and swelling had …