EPIDIDYMAL CYST REMOVAL
Epididymal cysts are benign and harmless fluid-filled swellings in the drainage tubes of the testicles. However if they grow to a large size, they may cause discomfort, difficulty walking, sexual difficulties etc. When epididymal cysts start to interfere with activities of daily living, there may be a case for their removal.
If you leave things as they are, the cyst will most probably over time get bigger. Sometimes this takes years. You can afford to wait and see if you wish. The fluid from the cyst can be drawn out using a needle, but the fluid will build up again in a month or two. There is no injection treatment that works well.
Once asleep, a cut is made in the scrotal skin over the cyst, and the cyst removed or ‘shelled out’, with minimal disturbance to the other scrotal structures. After the cyst has been removed, the cut in the skin is closed with dissolvable stitches.
Local anaesthetic is injected into the wound at the end of the procedure, making the whole area numb for up to 6 hours or more. There may be some discomfort on moving. Simple painkilling tablets should easily control this discomfort.
The procedure is usually performed as a day-case, and you will therefore be able to go home as long as you have someone to collect you and look after you at home.
All being well, Mr Rees will see you in the outpatient clinic 6 weeks after the operation to ensure all is well. If there are concerns in the interim you will be given contact numbers to get in touch with the hospital ward or Mr Rees’s secretary.
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