Femoral hernia: reappraisal of low repair with the conical mesh plug.

Abstract

Femoral hernias, rare among groin hernias, have been dealt with using various well-established techniques in emergency and elective settings. Lockwood's description and its various modifications have been used for decades. We here describe again a simple and elegant technique for femoral hernia repair using a conical mesh plug performed in a series of 31 patients. A prospective study of femoral hernia repair in 31 patients via a low inguinal approach using an improvised conical mesh plug is presented. Patients were followed up for any recurrence as the primary end point. The incidence of morbidity including chronic groin pain was recorded. Thirty-two hernias in 31 patients were managed in 2years. The majority of patients were female (94%) with a median age of 60 (16-70) years. Primary femoral hernias were preponderant with the majority on the left (81%). In an average follow-up period of 18months, there were no recurrences, minimal morbidity (3%) and no incidence of chronic inguinodynia. The low inguinal repair with a conical mesh plug is easily reproducible, elegant and probably the best method for femoral hernia repair.