Abstract
Femoral hernias represent a surgical disease frequently associated with bowel incarceration and necessitating emergency surgery. Between January 2003 and September 2011, in our institution, we retrospectively reviewed the clinical characteristics of 47 patients diagnosed as having a femoral hernia. Among the 42 patients (89%) with small bowel incarceration, bowel resection was performed in 21 (44%). The time from onset to surgery was significantly longer (p=0.01), and obstructive bowel symptoms were more frequent (p=0.01), in the patients who underwent resection. The overall mortality rate was 8.5% (4 patients). The time from onset to surgery and values of TP, CPK and CRP were significantly different between the patients who recovered and those who did not. Multivariate analysis showed a high CPK to be an independent prognostic factor (p=0.0409). The time elapsing from onset of symptoms to surgery and CPK level are considered to be important prognostic factors in patients with incarcerated femoral hernias. Early diagnosis and early treatment are therefore necessary in such patients.
