Although surgery is considered the ultimate treatment for hydrocele, sclerotherapy can be a valuable alternative, avoiding postoperative complications such as bleeding, hematoma, wound infections and anesthesia related problems mostly in the elderly. It's also a cost-saving procedure when used in out-patients practice. We treated 50 patients using a 2.5% phenol solution for sclerotherapy. The treatment was successful in 96% of patients, with a mean follow-up of 15.5 months. Only minor complications such as scrotal pain and 1 hematocele occurred. Phenol sclerotherapy nowadays seems to be the best choice for out-patient management of hydrocele in selected cases.
