Dropsy in a child

Often in young children, unfortunately, there are birth defects. So, one of the most common diseases among boys is hydrocele, referred to in the practice of hydrocele. Many mothers fall into a panic state, seeing the increased size of the child's testicles. However, this pathology is quite curable. However, in most cases it is necessary to resort to surgical intervention. As practice shows, more than 80% of newborn boys are cured of dropsy in the first year of life.

What you need to know about hydrocele?

During embryo formation, at about 28 weeks of gestation, the baby’s testicles descend into the scrotum. In the process of such migration into the scrotum, additional tissue layers are captured. Edema of the testicles means that excess fluid accumulates in the scrotum, as a result of which their size increases significantly.

Depending on the symptoms and nature of the disease, there are the following types of dropsy:

• congenital;
• acquired;
• unilateral;
• two-sided;
• acute;
• chronic;
• dropsy seed wire;
• accumulation in the shell of the testes of lymph.

Causes of congenital pathology

In most cases, the testicle dropsy has exactly the congenital form. The appearance of this pathology is due to several reasons:

• violations of embryological development;
• threatened miscarriage;
• prematurity of the fetus;
• injury during delivery;
• hypospadia;
• increased intra-abdominal pressure.

As practice shows, newborn boys who have suffered a congenital dropsy, closer to 3 years can be relapsed. The appearance of secondary hydrocele is provoked by the following factors:

• testicular twist;
• inflammatory-type diseases (for example, epididymitis or orchitis, etc.);
• transfer of mumps or flu;
• surgical intervention associated with excision of the hernia.

Causes of Acquired Hydrocele

In the first year of life, boys can develop an acquired form of dropsy of the testicles only in the event of injury to this organ or as a result of exposure to elevated temperature. For example, if the diaper is constantly wearing a baby at an elevated temperature, this can trigger an inflammatory process in the scrotum or testicles and, as a result, the development of a hydrocele.

Most often, the acquired form of dropsy is found in sexually mature males. The development of such a disease can serve the following reasons:

• the transfer of inflammatory diseases;
• damage to the testicles or scrotum;
• severe heart failure;
• violation of the outflow of fluid-lymph as a result of damage or inflammation of the lymph nodes;
• postoperative complications (for example, as a result of undergoing an operation related to the elimination of an inguinal hernia).

Factors provoking the development of hydrochloride in acute and chronic form

As a rule, acquired dropsy of the testicles in newborn boys first develops in the acute stage. The causes of this pathology can be:

• injuries of the testicles or scrotum;
• genital tumors;
• inflammation of the testicles.

If you do not take timely measures aimed at the treatment of hydrocele in the acute phase of development, then the disease, as a rule, becomes chronic. The hydrocele in the chronic stage can be caused by a prolonged inflammatory process in the testicles. Chronic dropsy is also accompanied by an increase in the size of the testicles, felt heaviness and discomfort. If a hydrocele in a chronic stage of development is not subjected to surgical or medical treatment, it is fraught with impaired spermatogenesis, testicular function and infertility.

How to diagnose hydrocele in newborns?

If you find any symptoms, namely an increase in the size of the testicle or its inflammation, you should immediately seek the advice of the attending specialist. The doctor will conduct a visual inspection. During the examination, the attending specialist should distinguish between hernia and dropsy. If a newborn boy has a hernia, then when pressing on the swollen area there will be a characteristic sound in the form of gurgling. If there is no such sound, it is dropsy.

After a visual inspection, the doctor performs diaphanoscopy. During this procedural action the scrotum shines through the flashlight. The accumulated liquid well passes the light flux, so the doctor will see all the structural changes in the scrotum. If there is suspicion that blood clots or pus are accumulated in the testicles, the doctor performs an ultrasound diagnosis.

During the ultrasound, the doctor will be able to establish an accurate diagnosis, as well as exclude / confirm the presence of a seed cord cyst or hernia in the groin. Sometimes the doctor can not identify the disease immediately, so he uses the help of parents. At the slightest modification of the testicles of a boy, they should take a picture of them, and then transfer the pictures to the attending specialist.

Ways to diagnose the growth of testicles in adolescents

It is difficult for parents to identify testicular dropsy in adolescent boys because they do not see the child without clothes. Parents can watch their son’s behavior. Parents can determine the development of hydrocele by the following criteria:

• the child’s gait is modified and resembles a duck;
• the child will often go to the toilet room;
• the child will increase interest in any information on medical topics that he can search on the Internet.

Methods of treatment of dropsy testicles

As a rule, the development of testicular dropsy does not bother the newborn boy at all. To the pediatrician parents turn in case of detection of the slightest modification of the testicles. The type of treatment chosen depends on several factors:

• age category;
• causes of pathology;
• flow rate hydrocele;
• the severity of the disease.

Therapy without surgery

Doctors, urologists and pediatricians are of the opinion that dropsy, which appeared before the age of 2 years, should pass on its own without surgical intervention. By this time, the vaginal appendix should close, fluid should flow out, and the testicles should acquire a natural size. Unfortunately, there are practically no effective treatments for non-surgical way. A treatment specialist can remove accumulated fluid by puncturing the scrotum. This procedural action is carried out quickly and necessarily in sterile conditions. Often, the lack of an initial surgical intervention can trigger a relapse into a hydrocele.

How to perform the operation?

The operation associated with the elimination of hydrocele, lasts no more than half an hour. Doctors can perform an operation according to one of four tactics:

• Ross;
• Bergman;
• Winckelmann;
• Lord

The Ross operation is carried out in the case of the development of a connected hydrocele. In this case, the vaginal process is cut off, and the inguinal ring is ligated. Tactics of Bergman and Winkelman are very similar. During the surgical procedure, the testicular membrane is incised, the vaginal process is excised and sheathed at a distance as close as possible to the base. At the end of surgery, you need to put a pressure bandage.

The Lord’s operating procedure is the least traumatic. All surgical operations are performed without removing the shell to the outside. Vaginal sheath sewn to other shells. The tactics of surgery is determined depending on the nature of the disease, the severity and the form of its course.

Features of the postoperative period

Upon completion of the surgical procedure, the child can be given to drink after 2 hours. Severe pain is not manifested. To relieve discomfort, you can take anti-inflammatory pharmacological nonsteroidal drugs. In the postoperative week of the newborn boy is not recommended to bathe in the bath. When changing a diaper, it is constantly necessary to process the suture element with an antiseptic substance.

What complications can occur after removal of hydrocele?

The likelihood of postoperative complications is extremely low and amounts to 1-2%. These include:

• swelling of the scrotum;
• reshaping the scrotum;
• infertility (in case of damage to the spermatic cord).

As practice shows, after surgery, the testicular dropsy no longer develops. Unfortunately, effective conservative treatment methods do not exist today. When identifying the slightest suspicion of development in a newborn boy, hydrocele should be referred to the attending specialist.