Papers of the Week

The practice of recreational urethral sounding involves insertion of foreign body in the urethra usually for sexual gratification. We present a case of a 62-year-old male with longstanding recurrent urinary tract infections complicated with Staphylococcus epidermidis bacteremia, discitis, and osteomyelitis at T12-L1 vertebral level associated with left psoas abscess secondary to a retained foreign body inserted into his urethra and urinary bladder. He had extraction of foreign body, cystoscopy, and open cystolithotripsy. He received long-term antibiotics and back surgery resulting in residual chronic back pain. This case illustrates important chronic infectious complications associated with the high-risk sexual practice of urethral sounding.