All mothers know that dropsy of the testicles is extremely widespread in newborn boys and babies. But not everyone can see the hydrocele in their baby on their own. In this article, we will talk about what dropsy looks like and what to do if your son has symptoms of hydrocele.
What it is?
A hydrocele is a buildup of physiological serous fluid in the scrotum and testicular membrane. Pathology occurs in about 15% of newborns. At the same time, the scrotum is visually greatly increased, and this increase is not always symmetrical bilateral.
The main reason for the problem lies in the peculiarities of the formation of the testicle itself. Everything happens during the period of intrauterine development of the baby. At 24 weeks gestation, the testicles formed in the boy's abdomen begin their journey down to where they are supposed to be.
In this case, the peritoneum is stretched and falls behind them, a so-called vaginal process is formed.
Normally, by the time of birth, it should be overgrown with connective tissue, however, this does not always happen. If, for some reason, the overgrowth is slowed down, or the child was born earlier than the obstetric period prescribed for him, then the channel connecting the scrotum and the peritoneum remains open, along which physiological fluid flows into the testicular membranes.
Acquired dropsy in babies is rare. In male babies, dropsy is most often physiological, due to the fact that more fluid is produced than is needed by nature for the free movement of the testicle inside the scrotum. Acquired hydrocele is associated with testicular injury, inflammation, tumors in the scrotum, and also quite often accompanies the state of cardiovascular failure.
Visual signs of disease
Despite the visual increase in the scrotum, the hydrocele does not cause pain in the child. Therefore, it is possible to suspect such a delicate problem in a baby by the appearance of the genitals. Normally, the child's scrotum is proportionally smaller than the scrotum of an adult man, it has a normal color, protruding vessels and veins are not visible on it.
With dropsy, one half of the scrotum or all of it looks edematous, enlarged, the color of the skin changes from normal to somewhat cyanotic, tense veins and blood vessels can be seen. The scrotum itself has a flat surface; in daylight, a slight glossy shine of the edematous place can be observed. The hydrocele is firm and elastic to the touch. There is no need to be afraid to touch it, since palpation does not give pain to the child.
If desired, the skin of the scrotum can be folded freely. It is very difficult to feel the testicle itself; with dropsy of large sizes, this cannot be done in principle. With a small dropsy, the testicle will be felt at the very bottom of the edematous zone. If you take a small flashlight and shine it from the bottom of the scrotum, then the light will penetrate the entire area of the swelling. The stronger the dropsy, the better the rays of light pass through.
It should be noted that the size of the scrotum will not always look the same. If the vaginal process of the peritoneum, which did not overgrow in time, provides free communication with the abdominal cavity, then the fluid from the hydrocele can penetrate back through it into the peritoneum, and then the swelling will be much less. Then the increase in the size of the scrotum returns.
If the scrotum does not change in size to the smaller side, it remains stably enlarged or slowly grows in size, one can suspect an isolated form of dropsy, in which there is no communication with the abdominal cavity, and the accumulated physiological serous fluid cannot escape. A small and gradual growth of the hydrocele in size suggests that dropsy is associated with an imbalance of the fluid produced for natural lubrication of the testicle and its consumption.
If the dropsy is large and difficult to miss, the child may have some difficulty urinating. Parents may notice that the baby becomes anxious before emptying the bladder. In most cases, dropsy can be identified within the next few days after the birth of a boy. Less often, it manifests itself in the first weeks, usually up to 2 months of independent life.
The scrotum can also grow with an inguinal hernia in a child. Distinguishing dropsy from a hernia is quite simple. The hernia is repositioned when pressed slightly. Hydrocele is not common. With the communicating form of the disease, with light pressure, the swelling of the scrotum will begin to slowly decrease as fluid begins to flow into the abdominal cavity. When isolated, the decrease will not occur at all.
If dropsy are suspected by the parents of a baby who is not yet two weeks old, then it is too early to sound the alarm, because the swelling of the scrotum looks almost the same, which is associated with hormonal changes in the body. The baby no longer experiences the effects of maternal hormones, and such swelling does not apply to hydrocele and has nothing to do with diseases and pathological conditions.
What to do when detected?
If swelling is found in the genital area, parents must show the child to the surgeon. Only a specialist can quickly recognize what is the problem, distinguish a hernia from dropsy and a tumor inside the testicle from an injury that the baby may have received during a difficult birth.
Do not be afraid of going to a surgeon, since no one will immediately operate on anyone. Dropsy of the testicle in babies under 2 years old is simply observed, because in 70-80% of cases, hydrocele "resolves" on its own without any specific treatment.
And only a small percentage of boys need surgical intervention, which they also try to postpone until after two years of age.
If the hydrocele is complicated by suppuration or accumulation of blood in the scrotum, the operation can be performed earlier, but only in order to avoid peritonitis and mechanical total compression of the sex gland, which is the testicle. Such urgent indications for surgery are rare.
If the parents have a suspicion that the child has dropsy of the testicles, the pediatric urologist of the highest category A.I. will tell you about this problem in detail.
What is testicular dropsy, you can learn from the second video.
