Efficacy of emergency exploratory laparotomy in incarcerated obturator hernia.

BACKGROUND: Incarcerated obturator hernia (IOH) is a scarce type of acute surgical disease, but the mortality rate is the highest in abdominal hernias. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of emergency exploratory laparotomy (EEL) in treating incarcerated obturator hernia (IOH).

METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study of 12 female patients with IOH underwent EEL between January 2014 and March 2016. The variables which included patient characteristics, findings of CT, operative time, postoperative complications, length of hospital stay, ICU admission rate, 30-day readmission rate and mortality were analyzed.

RESULTS: The age of patients was 82.5 ± 4.2 years and the median body mass index (BMI) was 20.6 kg/m2 (IQR, 18.7-21.5 kg/m2 ). There were 10 patients (83.3%) underwent partial intestinal resection due to partial small bowel necrosis or perforation. The total operation time was 85.7 ± 8.7 min. The time to initiation of a soft diet was 3.9 ± 0.7 days and the median length of stay was 15.0 days (IQR, 14.0-17.5 days), respectively.

CONCLUSIONS: The EEL is a clinically safe and necessary choice for early diagnosis and treatment in IOH. EEL may improve the curative effect of IOH significantly.