Abstract
Reports of incarcerated femoral hernias treated with laparoscopic surgery are rare. We report two patients with incarcerated femoral hernias repaired with a transabdominal preperitoneal approach (TAPP). Case 1 was a 77-year-old woman with a two-day history of abdominal pain and nausea who was referred to the emergency department of our hospital. CT showed a left incarcerated femoral hernia. Because strangulation of the incarcerated femoral hernia was strongly suspected, we performed emergency surgery via the TAPP. We could confirm the viability of the incarcerated bowel laparoscopically. The postoperative course was uneventful, and the patient was discharged on the fourth postoperative day. Case 2 was a 76-year-old man with right groin pain who was referred to our hospital. CT showed a right incarcerated femoral hernia. We performed emergency surgery with TAPP because the incarcerated femoral hernia could not be reduced manually. It was easy to reduce the hernia laparoscopically, and we could confirm that the incarcerated femoral hernia was not strangulated. The postoperative course was uneventful, and the patient was discharged on the third postoperative day. Laparoscopic surgery is useful for easily reducing incarcerated femoral hernias and affords the opportunity to inspect the incarcerated bowel for determining its viability.
