CASE REPORT   

Journal of Radiological Review 2021 June;8(2):168-71

DOI: 10.23736/S2723-9284.21.00109-5

Copyright © 2021 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Amyand’s hernia

Annamaria G. NUCERA ¹ ✉, Francesco MESSINA ¹, Carlo SCHIPANI ²

¹ Unit of Radiology, Department of Advanced Diagnostic-Therapeutic Technologies, Bianchi-Melacrino-Morelli Hospital, Reggio Calabria, Italy; ² Medical Health Center, Crotone, Italy

Amyand’s hernia is a rare form of inguinal hernia in which the vermiform appendix is found in the hernial sac. It is found in 1% of cases of inguinal hernia repair and it is inflamed in 0.13% of all cases of Amyand’s hernia. Although the motivation of the abnormal presence of the appendix in the inguinal sac may also be due to altered embryological migration, most of the time it is anatomical: a particularly mobile cecum or a sufficiently long appendix can facilitate the free displacement of the organum. The two different physiopathological mechanisms would explain the two peaks of incidence in the childhood and in advanced adulthood. In addition, this condition would occur more frequently in male individuals due to the relative rarity of inguinal hernia in the female sex where crural hernia prevails. Whatever the motivation of the abnormal presence of the appendix in the inguinal sac, it can be exposed to repeated traumatisms until it results in appendicitis. The case of an Amyand’s hernia in a 58-year-old male patient is reported here. Computed tomography (CT) showed the presence of a blind-ending tubular structure arising from cecum (appendix) and extending into inguinal sac with adjacent abscess (peri-appendicular abscess). The diagnosis was confirmed intraoperatively with surgery of laparoscopic hernioplasty and appendectomy.

KEY WORDS: Hernia; Laparoscopy; Appendectomy