
Obturator hernia: An uncommon cause of small bowel obstruction
Author(s) -
Suruchi Shreshtha
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of postgraduate medicine/journal of postgraduate medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.405
H-Index - 52
eISSN - 0972-2823
pISSN - 0022-3859
DOI - 10.4103/0022-3859.192663
Subject(s) - medicine , obturator hernia , bowel obstruction , laparotomy , etiology , surgery , incidence (geometry) , hernia , surgical emergency , mortality rate , general surgery , emergency surgery , physics , optics
A 70 year old lady presented to surgery emergency with small bowel obstruction without any obvious etiology. On exploration she was found to have an obstructed obturator hernia, which is a rare pelvic hernia with an incidence of 0.07-1.4% of all intra-abdominal hernias. Diagnosis is often delayed until laparotomy for bowel obstruction. Strangulation is frequent and mortality remains high (25%). Early diagnosis and surgical treatment contributes greatly to reduce the mortality and morbidity rates. A variety of techniques have been described, however surgical repair has not been standardized. It is an important diagnosis to be considered in elderly patients with intestinal obstruction.