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Hydrocele Updated 4/2011

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BASICS

  • Description
  • Epidemiology
  • Risk Factors
  • Etiology
  • Associated Conditions

DIAGNOSIS

  • Signs and Symptoms
  • Tests
  • Differential Diagnosis

TREATMENT

  • Additional Treatment
  • Surgery
  • In-patient Considerations

Ongoing Care

  • Follow-Up Recommendations
  • Complications
The following is an excerpt....
BASICS

Description

A collection of fluid within the scrotum:

  • Communicating hydrocele:
    • Associated with a patent processus vaginalis
    • Has associated indirect inguinal hernia
  • Noncommunicating hydrocele (the processus vaginalis is not patent):
    • Infantile type: Often spontaneous resolution
    • Adult type: Infrequent resolution
  • Hydrocele of the cord: Distal portion of processus vaginalis has closed, midportion patent and fluid filled, proximal portion open or closed
  • Acute hydrocele: Fluid collection resulting from an acute process within the tunica vaginalis
  • System(s) affected: Reproductive

ALERT: Pediatric Considerations
  • In communicating hydrocele, consider contralateral inguinal exploration.
Epidemiology

Predominant age: Childhood

Prevalence
  • 1,000 per 100,000
  • Estimated to be 1% of adult males
Risk Factors
  • Ventriculoperitoneal shunt
  • Exstrophy of the bladder
  • Cloacal exstrophy
  • Ehlers-Danlos syndrome
  • Peritoneal dialysis
Etiology ...

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FIG. 9.3. Hydrocele. Increasing and decreasing size indicates a communicating hydrocele with a patent processus vaginalis, requiring surgical correction.Credit: From Fleisher GR, MD, Ludwig S, MD, Baskin MN, MD. Atlas of Pediatric Emergency Medicine. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2004.