Aspiration and tetracycline sclerotherapy of hydroceles

Aspiration and sclerotherapy of hydroceles have been considered an effective outpatient procedure. We report on our experience with modification of this procedure in the treatment of 28 hydroceles. A 10 per cent solution of tetracycline hydrochloride was used as the sclerosant. In this series the mean followup was 15 months and there was an over-all 93 per cent success rate. A single treatment was successful in 75 per cent of the hydroceles. Complications included a hematoma in 2 patients and epididymitis in 1. We consider aspiration and sclerotherapy of hydroceles to be a reasonable alternative to an operation.