Abstract
An 81-year-old woman was emergently admitted to our hospital because of lower abdominal pain and vomiting. An abdominal CT scan revealed a left incarcerated obturator hernia causing intestinal obstruction. Since she visited our hospital within 4 hours after the onset of symptoms and ischemic change affecting the intestine was considered unlikely from abdominal and blood findings we performed a non-invasive closed reduction. We flexed the left lower limb at the hip gently with slight external rotation followed by slight adduction with internal rotation in the supine position ; the symptoms disappeared immediately during this maneuver. The release of the incarcerated intestine was confirmed by another CT examination. Two days after the non-invasive closed reduction, an elective surgery was performed via an inguinal approach. She was discharged from the hospital 9 days after the surgery. Incarcerated obturator hernia commonly affects elderly women who often have various complications. To avoid higher risks associated with an emergency surgery, this non-invasive closed reduction by flexing the lower limb is considered to be beneficial.
