What is the cause of hydrocele?

I believe that men have heard of the disease of hydrocele, but they don't know much about its cause. A lot of time is wasted in the treatment, which is obviously not good. It is recommended that you learn more about these common sense. Next, let's learn about the cause of hydrocele! I hope that through the editor's introduction, everyone can have a general understanding.

Hydrocele is a cystic lesion formed by the accumulation of fluid in the vaginal cavity surrounding the testicle that exceeds the normal amount. It can be seen in people of all ages and is a common clinical disease. Clinically, hydrocele is divided into four types according to the location of the hydrocele and the degree of closure of the vaginal process: positive hydrocele, communicating hydrocele, caruncle hydrocele, and mixed hydrocele. The main clinical symptoms of the patients are: cystic masses in the scrotum. When the amount of fluid is small, there is no special discomfort. On the contrary, when the amount is large, the pulling of the semen in the upright position causes blunt pain and testicular heat. In severe cases, it can affect urination and normal daily life, such as giant testicular hydrocele.

The tunica vaginalis is a double-layer membrane covering the outside of the testicles. It is the peritoneum that brings the testicles into the scrotum during the descent of the testicles from the abdominal cavity. Under normal circumstances, after the testicles descend into the scrotum, the passage between the tunica vaginalis and the abdominal cavity closes automatically. If the closure is incomplete and ascites moves downward, hydrocele will occur.

Causes

Secondary hydrocele has primary diseases, such as acute orchitis, epididymitis, spermatic cord inflammation, etc., which stimulate the increase of hydrocele exudation and cause hydrocele. Scrotal surgery damages lymphatic vessels and causes reflux obstruction, as well as high fever, heart failure, ascites, etc., which manifest as acute hydrocele; chronic secondary hydrocele is common in chronic orchitis, epididymitis, syphilis, tuberculosis, testicular tumors, etc., which causes increased secretion of the hydrocele and accumulation of fluid. In addition, filariasis and schistosomiasis can also cause hydrocele. The fluid often contains white blood cells. The cause of primary hydrocele is not yet fully understood. It may be due to increased secretion and reduced absorption of the hydrocele, or it may be caused by undetected or healed epididymitis. It is also related to congenital factors, such as defects in the lymphatic vascular system of the caecum, and the disease progresses slowly.

When the testicles descend from the retroperitoneum to the scrotum, the peritoneum descends with it and becomes the tunica vaginalis. The tunica vaginalis that surrounds the epididymis is the visceral tunica vaginalis, and there is another layer outside it called the parietal tunica vaginalis. There is only a small amount of fluid between the two layers. The processus vaginalis that descends with the testicles is completely closed after birth and becomes a cord-like object. If the processus vaginalis is not completely closed, the fluid in the abdominal cavity (ascites) can flow along its unclosed lumen to the periphery of the testicle or stay on a certain section of the spermatic cord, forming a hydrocele called congenital or communicating hydrocele. If there is too much fluid between the two layers of the proper tunica vaginalis of the testis, it is a hydrocele of the testis.

In the early stage of normal fetal development, the testicles are behind the peritoneum. At 7 to 9 months, the testicles descend to the scrotum through the inguinal canal. The peritoneal processus vaginalis closes with the descent of the testicles, forming a fibrous cord, and the processus vaginalis of the testis forms a sac-like tunica vaginalis propria. Under normal circumstances, there is only a small amount of fluid in the cavity, which is balanced between exudation and absorption. When pathological changes occur in the organs adjacent to the tunica vaginalis, such as inflammation, tumors, trauma, parasitic diseases, etc., the exudation and absorption functions are unbalanced, or the processus vaginalis closes incompletely, and the fluid in the abdominal cavity goes back and forth in the tunica vaginalis cavity, thus forming testicular hydrocele.

The causes of hydrocele are probably what we have introduced in the above article. We hope that patients can find their own causes by referring to the above article, and then receive targeted treatment, so that they can enter the treatment state soon. Finally, we need to remind everyone that if you have this disease, you must seize the time to treat it. Delaying it will definitely not work.