Main of our study was to report on the age at time of surgery and the therapeutic features among children who underwent surgery for hydrocele in Dakar.
Materials and methods: This was a retrospective study conducted between 1st January 2009 and 30th December 2013. A hundred and seventeen boys who underwent surgery for hydrocele due to patent processus vaginalis were reviewed. We determined their age at the time of surgery and the therapeutic aspects including the surgical approach, the practiced surgical gestures, post-surgery medical treatment and surgical treatment outcomes, including favorable cases and complications.
Results: Mean age of the children was 44 months with extremes of 22 days and 15 years of age. Boys aged 3 to 11 were the most represented (58%); 38% were under 2. We performed a high ligation of the processus vaginalis in all children. Post-surgery medical treatment varied with a predominance of analgesics (98.3%) and antibiotics (73.5%). We recorded as post-surgery outcomes 112 favorable cases, one case of scrotal hematoma and four cases of recurrence.
Conclusion: Many children with hydrocele had early surgical operation whereas they could have benefitted from surveillance of the patent processus vaginalis. Hydrocele recurrences are common in our study, this result probably related to the inexperience of the surgeons.