Incidental Testicular Pathologies in Patients With Idiopathic Hydrocele Testis: Is Preoperative Scrotal Ultrasound Justified?

Background/aim: Hydrocele testis is a common disease with a prevalence of 1% in adults. Although it can be diagnosed by physical examination, scrotal ultrasound represents a standard diagnostic tool, to exclude underlying pathologies among them testicular or scrotal malignancies.

Patients and methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of 156 patients aged between 20 and 60 years who underwent surgical hydrocelectomy between 2003 and 2018. Pre-surgical ultrasound, histological results, complications and patients' characteristics were analysed.

Results: Malignancies were found in 0% of patients in the pre-surgical ultrasound. Interestingly, we found a higher incidence of hydrocele testis in patients with increasing age and 27% presented with symptoms other than painless enlargement of the scrotum. Among them recurrent pain was the most common. Surgical complications occurred in only 3.2%.

Conclusion: Testicular cancer is an important differential diagnosis of hydrocele testis. However, in our study no case of incidental testicular cancer or scrotal malignancy was found in the pre-surgical ultrasound.