Inguinal Hernia

  • Etiology: patent processus vaginalis
  • Imaging: bowel within the inguinal canal and scrotum
  • Clinical: incarcerated hernia is a clinical diagnosis and not a radiologic diagnosis

Cases of Inguinal Hernia

AXR of small bowel obstruction due to inguinal hernia
AXR supine shows massively dilated loops of bowel filling the abdomen with a loop of bowel noted in each of the scrotal sacs.
AXR of bilateral inguinal hernias
AXR AP shows large air-filled loops of bowel within the scrotum bilaterally.
US of inguinal hernia
Sagittal US of the scrotum (below) shows a loop of bowel superior to the right testicle within the right scrotal sac. Transverse US (above) best demonstrates the presence of a reactive hydrocele around the loop of bowel. The bowel was subsequently successfully reduced into the abdomen and repaired 3 days later.
US of inguinal hernia
Sagittal US of the right scrotum shows a normal appearing right testicle (to the right of the image) that is displaced inferiorly in the scrotal sac by a large mass composed of multiple tubular structures that demonstrated peristalsis on real-time imaging.