Incarcerated Amyand’s hernia Personal experience and literature review

Abstract

The finding of vermiform appendix in an inguinal hernia is called Amyand’s hernia. Two cases of a 30 days and 4 months old children respectively are presented; they had been visited a month earlier and scheduled for inguinal herniotomy in elective surgery. On admission both the patients presented a non-reducible mass in the right inguinal region. Surgical exploration was performed under general anaesthesia. Inguinal canal is opened through transverse lower abdominal skin incision. We palpated a tubular swelling, of tense-elastic consistence through swollen cremaster muscle and hernial sac. Separating cremaster muscle, we opened swollen hernia sac and we found the vermiform appendix, not inflamed. We easily reduced the appendix into the peritoneum cavity, and then we performed the herniotomy according to the Mugnai-Ferrari technique. No post-operative morbidity was reported. The patients was discharged in the first postoperative. We did not have any doubt about avoiding appendectomy in both cases presented; in fact such an intervention, especially in so young patients, had no pathophysiological justification, while it increases the postoperative mortality rate.