ABSTRACT
Hydrocele is an abnormal accumulation of fluid between the two layers of the tunica vaginalis or at any point along the processus vaginalis within the spermatic cord. The history of hydrocele, as outlined in the following notes, can be summarized by what John Hunter wrote in 1786 in his Lectures on Principles of Surgery. “No disease affecting the human body and requiring an operation for its cure has called forth the opinions and pens of surgeons so much as this disease. Each finds that every mode of operating, except his own, has failed.” It has been recognized that certain primitive surgical procedures were used by early populations in cases of injury or disease. The reports indicate that among the North American Indians, sinews were used to suture the wounds, while thorns were employed by the Masai and Akamba in East Africa and the heads of termites used by the Somali and other African tribes.
