Laparoscopic diagnosis and treatment of a hydrocele of the canal of Nuck extending in the retroperitoneal space: A case report

Inguinal hernias can be repaired by laparoscopic techniques, which have had better results than open surgery in several small studies. We performed a randomized, multicenter trial in which 487 patients with inguinal hernias were treated by extraperitoneal laparoscopic repair and 507 patients were treated by conventional anterior repair. We recorded information about postoperative recovery and complications and examined the patients for recurrences one and six weeks, six months, and one and two years after surgery. Six patients in the open-surgery group but none in the laparoscopic-surgery group had wound abscesses (P=0.03), and the patients in the laparoscopic-surgery group had a more rapid recovery (median time to the resumption of normal daily activity, 6 vs. 10 days; time to the return to work, 14 vs. 21 days; and time to the resumption of athletic activities, 24 vs. 36 days; P<0.001 for all comparisons). With a median follow-up of 607 days, 31 patients (6 percent) in the open-surgery group had recurrences, as compared with 17 patients (3 percent) in the laparoscopic-surgery group (P=0.05). All but three of the recurrences in the latter group were within one year after surgery and were caused by surgeon-related errors. In the open-surgery group, 15 patients had recurrences during the first year, and 16 during the second year. Follow-up was complete for 97 percent of the patients. Patients with inguinal hernias who undergo laparoscopic repair recover more rapidly and have fewer recurrences than those who undergo open surgical repair.

The groin region is subdivided into two distinct anatomic areas: the inguinal canal and the femoral triangle. A series of cross-sectional imaging cases illustrate that a good understanding of the local anatomic characteristics of the groin allows confident characterization of groin pathologic conditions. Such conditions can be classified into five major groups: congenital abnormalities, noncongenital hernias, vascular conditions, infectious or inflammatory processes, and neoplasms. Congenital entities include hernias, cysts, undescended testis, and retractile testes. Ultrasound (US) is useful in depicting these conditions. In the second group, noncongenital hernias, US allows visualization of bowel loops in peristalsis within the hernia. Herniography, computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging are also helpful in diagnosis. Among vascular conditions, false aneurysms may be detected from the turbulent flow through the tract at Doppler US. The characteristic venous flow of varicoceles is best diagnosed with US during the Valsalva maneuver. Infectious or inflammatory conditions include, among others, hematomas, which appear hyperattenuating at CT and have variable appearances, depending on the age of the blood products, at MR imaging. The origins of neoplasms may be assessed at CT and MR imaging, although appearances of solid tumors are relatively nonspecific.

The surgical approach to the inguinal canal in girls is identical to that in boys. The sliding hernia which contains the ovary with or without the fallopian tube occurs occasionally in female patients. In our clinical experience, we found that a hydrocele in the labium, also presenting with an asymptomatic palpable movable mass, mimics a sliding hernia with ovary. In an attempt to differentiate between hydrocele and sliding inguinal hernia with ovary in female patients, we report our experience dealing with the two situations at a single institution within a 5-year period. Between July 1997 and June 2002, 1800 infants and children underwent surgery for inguinal hernia at Chang Gung Children's Hospital, of whom 580 were female infants and girls aged 1 month to 14 years (mean, 5.7 years). Some 32 patients (5.3%) presented with an asymptomatic palpable movable mass over the labium major. Pre-operative sonography was performed for all cases. Twenty-six female infants aged 1 month to 18 months (mean 5 months) had sliding hernia; both the ovary and fallopian tube were contained. Six girls aged 2 years to 6 years (mean 4.6 years), had hydrocele of the canal of Nuck. The accuracy of pre-operative diagnosis with sonography was 100%. Sonography is an easy and accurate pre-operative diagnostic procedure. We suggest that sonography be performed routinely in all female cases with an inguinal hernia containing a palpable movable mass.