Abstract
A 66-year-old woman who had experienced left thigh pain and numbness since 2008 was diagnosed as having sciatica at an orthopedic clinic and took painkillers. In October 2011, she presented at another hospital with epigastric pain and distention. As computed tomography showed an incarcerated bowel in the region between the pectineus and obturator muscles, a left obturator hernia and ileus were diagnosed. She was referred to our hospital for treatment. We performed an emergency laparotomy and found that a portion of the intestine about 50 cm oral from the ileocecal region was incarcerated into the left obturator foramen. Because it was Richter's hernia, ileal resection was not needed and it was repaired with polypropylene mesh. After the operation, the left thigh pain and numbness disappeared. The Howship-Romberg sign is a well-known indicator of obturator hernia；however, in our case, the patient’s thigh pain was lateral and dorsal, both of which were unusual. Physicians should consider obturator hernia among the differential diagnoses when elderly patients being treated for orthopedic illnesses complain of thigh pain.
