Obturator hernia: The usefulness of emergent computed tomography for earlydiagnosis

The diagnosis of obturator hernia is difficult, and delayed treatment is as sociated with serious complications, Recently, computed tomography (CT) has been used successfully for establishing a correct diagnosis. We encountere d nine cases of obturator hernia from 1988 to 1997, All the patients were e lderly women. In six of them, a correct diagnosis was established by emerge nt CT scan. In two of the remaining cases, diagnosis could not be establish ed because of unavailability of CT, and the other patient was diagnosed cor rectly based on clinical features, including a positive Howship-Romberg sig n. Surgical repair was performed successfully. One patient died postoperati vely because of septicemia associated with anastomotic leakage. Our cases i ndicate that emergent CT scan is useful for the diagnosis of obturator hern ia, particularly in elderly patients presenting with ileus of unknown origi n. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Inc.