Sussex Premier Health, Hastings: Important update for patients with upcoming appointments
Surgical removal of a swelling around the testicles
A hydrocele is a swelling that occurs when fluid collects around one or both testicles. It is usually painless but can cause some discomfort and/or pain. Surgery is the best way to make sure it doesn’t return.
While a hydrocele is not usually painful, it may be uncomfortable because it makes your scrotum bigger and more sensitive. Usually the cause is unknown, but it can be the result of an injury, infection or, rarely, testicular cancer.
Sometimes, the fluid can be removed with a needle and syringe, but surgery is the best way to make sure the hydrocele doesn’t come back.
You’ll meet your consultant in one of our private consultation rooms. During this time you will be able to explain your medical history symptoms and raise any concerns that you might have.
We will also discuss with you whether any further diagnostic tests such as scans or blood tests are needed. Any additional costs will be discussed before further tests are carried out.
On the day of your operation, our ward staff will show you to your own private room. Your private room will have an en-suite bathroom and TV and Wi-Fi facilities.
Hydrocele surgery is usually done under general anaesthesia, which means you’ll be asleep throughout the operation and won’t feel any pain. It typically lasts around 20 minutes.
During the procedure, your surgeon will make a small incision in your scrotum and drain the fluid from around your testicle. The resulting space will be sewn together using dissolvable stitches.
The operation is usually carried out as a day-case, so you won’t need to stay overnight in hospital.
After the procedure, you will be taken to your room where you can rest and recuperate until we feel you’re ready to go home.
Once you’re ready to be discharged from hospital, you’ll need to arrange for a friend or family member to take you home as you won’t be able to drive.
For guidance on pain relief and your recovery, please see our patient information sections below.
If you need them, continue taking painkillers as advised by the hospital. We will provide you with a supply of all the medicines your consultant feels you need to take home with you after you’ve left hospital, up to 14 days. This may be at an additional cost to some patients.
Wearing close-fitting underwear day and night for a week or two will help to support your scrotum, ease discomfort and prevent swelling.
After a week the wound should be almost pain–free. You can go back to work and resume sexual activity when you feel comfortable, or when your surgeon advises. Dis-solvable stitches will disappear on their own after about a week and your wound should heal fairly quickly. However, if you have any concerns, do not hesitate to contact the hospital.
If you have any questions or concerns about your recovery you can call and speak to a member of the nursing team at any time, please call 01424 757459.
After hydrocele surgery, we will provide you with all the appropriate medication, advice on what to do and not to do, and follow-up support.
Your nurse will give you a telephone number for the hospital, in case you need to ask for any further advice. If you have any non-dissolvable stitches, you will be given an appointment for the out-patient clinic to have them removed.
Specific complications of this operation are uncommon, but as with any surgery to the scrotum, you may have some temporary difficulty passing urine. A catheter (a tube) may be needed for the first day or so, to drain urine from your bladder into a bag or bottle. There is also a rare chance that the operation causes the spermatic cord to be squeezed too tightly, partially cutting off the blood supply. This could eventually lead to the testicle shrinking.
Call us straight away if you experience any of these symptoms:
If you have any questions or concerns about your recovery you can call and speak to a member of the nursing team at any time, please call 01424 757459.
Your consultant will talk to you about the possible risks and complications of having this procedure and how they apply to you.
Speak to a member of our team
01424 757400 info@sussexpremierhealth.com