Our Ped has been a little concerned about the hydrocele (testicle floating in fluid) that Michael was born with because it really hasn't changed and he's 2 months old already (most hydroceles resolve themselves by age 1) and if it doesn't resolve itself by the time he's 1, he'll have to have surgery on it.

So when our Ped saw Michael on Friday, he suggested that Steve mention Michael's hydrocele to the urologist when he gets his vasectomy :yahoo: on the 17th. Our Ped is now theorizing that it might not getting better because when Michael refluxes he could be repeatedly forcing fluid into the hydrocele keeping it filled.

Anyone else have a boy with a hydrocele? If so, did it resolve itself or did he have to have surgery? Was it ever connected to the reflux?

Thanks!

Aim, I have no advice for you, but do mention it to the urologist. I am sure he'll be able to shed some light on it.

Awww.. poor baby. Does he act like it hurts? Poor thing. :(

Steve will definitely mention it to the urologist (if he remembers...my DH is one of those guys where you have to tattoo it on the back of his hand and then call him to remind him to read his hand to remember to do stuff! :banghead:)

And no, it doesn't seem to bother Michael a bit, but the poor kid looks like he's got elephantiasis and only on one side. :sad3:

Brayden had a mild one that we had actually never asked about (I guess I didn't really notice it too much)...but then we watched it "grow" when we were in the ER when he was sick one time.
They did an ultrasound and diagnosed it in the ER. I think he was just over a year at the time though. He had what they call a "communicating hydrocele" because it would get big and then small. We watched it do that for several months and then they repaired it at 16 months. They were going to repair it right away - but he was hospitalized for two weeks and they had to wait until he was healthy enough for surgery. It was actually an easy procedure and he did great. The worse part was you have to keep them indoors and "calm" for 3 weeks after the surgery.

My understanding is that unless it is a communicating hydrocele - they normally just watch it until more like 2 years old instead of 1 year now. In Europe, they will not actually fix it until they are at least 4 years old...If it doesn't change in size, I was told that it is mainly aethetic since it's trapped fluid that will eventually (in theory) reabsorb in the body. But if it's communicating, the wall is not closed, so it can become a life threatening situation if the bowel ends up pushing through (like a hernia)

Oh - We are pretty confident Brayden didn't start refluxing until around 1 year and he has always been a silent refluxer. In his case I don't think it has any relation to his GERD... Bryna has a hiatal hernia that the doc said it related to GERD so I guess it is possible the hydrocele could be as well for some kids

I don't think Michael's is "communicating" because as far as I can tell, it hasn't changed much in size since he was born.

Our Ped keeps confusing me, though, because he asserts that they won't do anything about it unless it hasn't resolved itself by the time Michael's a year old. But every time he sees Michael and looks at it, he says he's concerned that it's not getting smaller...?! So what (?), if we've got 10 more months for it to resolve itself and Michael's not in any apparent discomfort from it? :sad5:

Nathan has bi-lateral hydrocele. I had no idea they were reflux related. Nathan's hydrocele is still there, and he's 9 months old. They are giving Nathan an MRI this week and the ped said that they would fix it then. That way its only 1 sedation.

Interesting.