Chancroid

Injury	Disease	Nutrition	Poison

Symptoms	Surgery	Test	Special Topic

Male and female reproductive systems

Chancroid

Symptoms:

After an incubation period of 1 day to 2 weeks, chancroid begins with a small bump that becomes an ulcer within a day of its appearance. The ulcer characteristically:

Ranges in size dramatically (from 1/8 inch to 2 inches across)
Is painful
Has sharply defined borders
Has irregular or ragged borders
Has a base that is covered with a grey or yellowish-grey material
Has a base that bleeds easily if traumatized or scraped

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About half of infected men have only a single ulcer. Women frequently have 4 or more ulcers. The ulcers appear in specific locations.

Common locations in men (most common to least common) are:

Foreskin (prepuce)
Groove behind the head of the penis (coronal sulcus)
Shaft of the penis
Head of the penis (glans)
Opening of the penis (urethral meatus)
Scrotum

In women the most common location for ulcers is the labia majora. "Kissing ulcers" may develop. These are ulcers that occur on opposing surfaces of the labia. Other areas such as the labia minora, perianal area, and inner thighs may also be involved. The most common symptoms in women are pain with urination and pain with intercourse.

The initial ulcer may be mistaken as a chancre, the typical sore of primary syphilis.

Approximately half of the infected individuals will develop enlargements of the inguinal lymph nodes, the nodes located in the fold between the leg and the lower abdomen.

Half of those who develop swelling of the inguinal lymph nodes will progress to a point where the nodes rupture through the skin producing draining abscesses. The swollen lymph nodes and abscesses are often referred to as buboes.

Signs and tests:

Diagnosis is made by evaluating the ulcer(s) and presence of swollen lymph nodes, and by obtaining a culture from the base of the ulcers. There are no lab tests for chancroid like there is for syphilis.

References:

Annan NT, Lewis DA. Treatment of chancroid in resource-poor countries. Expert Rev Anti Infect Ther. 2005 Apr;3(2):295-306.

Lewis DA. Chancroid: clinical manifestations, diagnosis, and management. Sex Transm Infect. 2003 Feb;79(1):68-71.