Scrotal hydrocele secondary to ascites in 28 bulls

Twenty-eight of 104 mature bulls in a herd were examined to determine the cause of scrotal enlargement. Ascites was determined as the source of a transudate that accumulated in and expanded the scrotal vaginal cavity to induce a scrotal hydrocele. In our experience, scrotal hydrocele in mature bulls usually is caused by the accumulation of fluids in the scrotal vaginal cavity without evidence of local inflammation or traumatic lesions. In the bulls reported here, ascites was associated with intestinal edema that was tentatively attributed to a hypersensitivity reaction to gastrointestinal nematodes. Ascites in mature bulls with scrotal hydrocele in which primary lesions of the scrotum and scrotal contents are not detected should induce practitioners to perform additional diagnostic procedures to determine the cause of the fluid.