Q: Is laparoscopic intervention advisable for a 7 years old boy with a congenital hydrocoele? Is a congenital hydrocoele always associated with a hernia?

A:There is no real advantage of treating congenital hydrocoele in children using laparoscopy when compared to the conventional open surgery. It is only more fashionable. Hydrocoele and hernia in children happen because of a common defect, that is an opening in the abdominal wall that should naturally close at birth remains open. If only fluid comes out of the opening it is called a hydrocoele. If intestines or other abdominal contents come out, it is called a hernia. The operation for both is the same.