Laparoscopic Diagnosis of Incarcerated "Spigelian Hernia": Report of a Case and Review of the Literature

Spigelian hernias are rare hernias, representing only about 1-2% of all abdominal hernias. An accurate preoperative diagnosis of this condition is often difficult because the physical presence of these hernias is often not demonstrable owing to its peculiar anatomic location. Many patients with Spigelian hernias, therefore, may have no obvious findings on clinical examination. The diagnosis is even trickier in obese patients wherein the hernia sac may lie in an intraparietal plane, masked by the abdominal subcutaneous fat. Here we describe a case of incarcerated Spigelian hernia where clinical and radiological findings were inconsistent and the accurate diagnosis was made by laparoscopy and was followed by a laparoscopic-assisted repair using an open anterior approach with an onlay mesh. We therefore feel that laparoscopy can be a useful tool for confirming the diagnosis and also for performing a definitive repair in doubtful cases of Spigelian hernias.