HY'DROCELE (Gr. hydor, water, and We, a swelling)is the medical term for a dropsy of the tunicavaginalis, a serous membrane or sac investing the testis. Hydrocele occurs as a smooth, pear-shaped swelling, fluctuating when pressed, devoid of pain or tender ness, but sometimes causing a slight uneasiness from its weight.
The quantity of serous fluid in the sac is usually from 6 to 20 oz.. but it occasionally exceeds 100 ounces. Hydroeele may occur as a result of acute inflammation, but it most commonly comes on without any apparent local cause. It is most frequently met with about or beyond the middle period of life, and generally in persons of feeble power, or with a tendency to gout; sometimes, however, it occurs in young children, either in the same form as in adults, or as what is termed congenital hydroeele, when the communi cation between the tunics vaginas and the abdominal peritoneum is not obliterated, as it normally Should be.
The triatinent is divided into limpet/at/re and the By the former, the sur geon relieves the annoyance of his patient, whilo by the he aims at the permanent removal of the disease. The palliative treatment consists in the use of sus pensory bandages, evaporating and discutient lotions, and tapping with a fine trochar. Tapping seldom gives more than temporary relief, the swelling usually again regaining its former bulk in three or four months.
The Curative treatment consists in setting up sufficient inflammation • in the tunics vaginalis to destroy its undue secreting faculty. This is most commonly done by the injection of tincture of iodine into the sac, or by the passage of a fine seton or an iron. wire (as proposed by Dr. Simpson) through it.