The surgical treatment of the diseases of infancy and childhood / by T. Holmes.
- Timothy Holmes
- Date:
- 1868
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: The surgical treatment of the diseases of infancy and childhood / by T. Holmes. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Leeds Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Leeds Library.
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![ENCYSTED HYDROCELE. geon may easily overlook a small opening, as in M. Guer- sant's case quoted above. Tlie pressm-e wliich is made to [Fig. 95. InfantUe hydrocele.] return the fluid probably puckers-up tlie parts around the opening, and so closes it. Common hydrocele is not rare in children. It is always Common very transparent and easily diagnosed. The only point of much importance to attend to is as to the healthiness of the testicle. This should be carefully investigated, both before and after the withdrawal of the fluid, since otherwise the surgeon might be misled into confident promises of cm'e which would end in disappointment. Encysted hydrocele of the cord is relatively very common Encysted in early life; and if the cyst is situated high up upon the of^eccJrd. cord, much care is required in forming an opinion. I have seen several cases in which even very good and experienced surgeons for want of this care have pronounced inaccurate opinions; and have often seen children wearing trusses over such cysts. The disease originates in an accumulation of watery fluid, not albuminous like that of common or con- genital hydrocele, in an unobliterated part of the peritoneal covering of the cord. This gives rise to a small tumour dis- tending the groin, deeply covered with the abundant fat of the part, easily pushed up into the belly, if situated high up, and at once returning when pressure is withdrawn; and by all these signs much resembling a hernia at first sight. More accurate investigation will generally establish the following points of difference : 1. by dragging the tumom' down to- wards the scrotum, the finger can be passed over its rounded upper end, and it can then be felt that there is no gut pro-](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21511469_0647.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
