1986 Volume 47 Issue 5 Pages 593-599
We studied the specificity of 32 cases with incarceration and 5 cases of Richter's hernia out of 1027 cases of inguinal hernia experienced in our department from 1972 to 1984.
Most of the 971 cases of inguinal hernia were in young men, and incarceration was present in 19 (2%). Most of the 55 cases of femoral hernia were in elderly women and incarceration was present in 12 (21.9%). Incarceration was also present in the 1 case of obturator hernia. Four femoral hernias and the obturator hernia were Richter's hernias (0.5% of all the hernias).
The contents of the hernial sac of the incarcerated femoral hernias were found in the small intestine in all cases. Enterectomy was performed in 3 patients with inguinal hernias, 2 of whom died (both infants less than 1 year old). Enterectomy was also performed in 5 patients with femoral hernias; 2 of them, with Richeter's hernia, died, but they were both elderly patients more than 80 years old. It is thought that rapid diagnosis and immediate treatment are necessary because patients with incarceration, especially with Richter's hernia, develop strangulation of the intestine and serious complication.
