Acute penile pain as a presentation of pulmonary embolism: a case report

Background Pulmonary embolism (PE) in the pediatric population is uncommon, and due to a silent presentation often unrecognized entity that remains one of the most challenging medical conditions in the emergency department (ED). Risk factors for PE in children include nephrotic syndrome, immobility, obesity, congenital heart disease, and malignancy. In patients with PE, thromboembolism has been reported to occur at unusual venous sites including the veins within the central nervous system and abdomen. Although penile pain is a rare presenting symptom in the ED, in patients with hypercoagulability, it can herald a life threating event such as PE prompting further evaluation. Case presentation A 15-year-old male with a history of B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia who presented to the ED with an 18-hour history of penile pain. In the ED, the patient was in acute distress and rated his pain as 9/10. Initial vital signs were within normal limits, except mild tachypnea. On physical examination, his penile shaft was erythematous, indurated, and tender to palpation. He received fentanyl and morphine for pain. A complete blood cell count revealed pancytopenia with a platelet count of 73 x 109/L (139–320 x 109/L). A work-up for sexually transmitted diseases, urolithiasis, urinary tract infection, deep venous thrombosis (DVT), and priapism was negative. Approximately two hours after morphine administration, his saturations started dropping to mid-70’s. A computed tomography pulmonary angiogram (CTPA) revealed bilateral segmental acute pulmonary embolism involving multiple segmental right and left lower lobe pulmonary arteries. Penile pain and hypoxia have resolved with heparin. Conclusions PE is easily missed diagnosis among children who present to the ED and can be potentially fatal. A high index of suspicion is required in asymptomatic and oligo-symptomatic children with prothrombotic risk factors who develop thromboembolism-related symptoms at unusual sites as well as hypoxia in the ED setting.