Treatment of Hydrocele, November 20, 1977

Treatment of Hydrocele, November 20, 1977

In July 1977, Director Yang Zunzu of the Gansu Provincial Health Bureau introduced a young patient: Yang Hongwei, male, 7 years old, with varicocele and a scrotal swelling the size of a fist. His pulse was wiry on the left and涩on the right, and his tongue was pale and swollen—indicating fluid accumulation in the Liver Meridian and deficiency-cold in the Spleen and Stomach. He was prescribed Buzhong Yiqi Tang combined with Wuling San with modifications, but after three doses, there was no noticeable improvement. So I consulted the “Chinese Medicine Journal” (March 1966), which published a formula by Comrade Cao Hanzhen from Jiangxi: Poria cocos, Alisma plantago-aquatica, Coix seed, Phellodendron amurense, Plantago major, Melia azedarach, Corydalis yanhusuo. Then I checked the “Shanghai Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine” (January 1965), which featured a formula by Comrade Xie Qiusheng: Bupleurum 15g, Citrus aurantium 15g, Paeonia lactiflora 15g, Glycyrrhiza 3g, Foeniculum vulgare 9g, Aucklandia lappa 3g, Melia azedarach 24g, Corydalis yanhusuo 6g, Citrus reticulata pericarpium 15g, Taizhi 9g, Qingchenpi 15g, Chuanpu 15g, Shengma 9g, Zhishuangqi 9g, Zhigancao 9g. Combining these two formulas, I formulated a new prescription: a combination of Chaihu Sini San and Wuling San. After more than ten doses, the scrotal edema completely subsided.