coughing-induced bowel transection in a patient with an incarcerated inguinal hernia: a case report

by Miss Katelin Kohler DVM 10 min read

Coughing-induced bowel transection in a patient with an …

25 hours ago  · We report the case of a 49-year-old African American man with a chronic incarcerated inguinal hernia awaiting elective repair. He presented to the Emergency … >> Go To The Portal


Can I cough after inguinal hernia surgery?

Deep breathing and circulation exercises are good. Try to avoid vigorous coughing if your repair was done with the open method. Coughing may strain your incision. For a couple of weeks, when you need to cough or sneeze, splint your incision.

Can coughing cause a perforated bowel?

To the best of our knowledge, small bowel perforation or transection has not been reported following a non-traumatic insult to the hernia such as coughing. Non-traumatic events leading to intestinal transection are rare events.

How do you diagnose an inguinal hernia from coughing?

With the fingers placed over the femoral region, the external inguinal ring, and the internal ring, have the patient cough. A palpable bulge or impulse located in any one of these areas may indicate a hernia. The examiner should then return to the sitting position.

Is incarcerated hernia a bowel obstruction?

Incarcerated hernias account for 10 to 20% of cases of small bowel obstruction. These patients usually require urgent operation as they are at significant risk for strangulation and are not likely to resolve their obstruction spontaneously.

Can coughing cause a hernia to rupture?

Yes, although it is rare, an internal hernia can rupture internally. A spontaneous rupture can be caused by coughing, lifting weights, straining with defecation, or under other circumstances that increase intra-abdominal pressure.

What are the signs of a perforated bowel?

Symptoms of a bowel perforation include:sudden and severe abdominal pain.nausea and vomiting.fever. Close. fever. A rise in body temperature above the normal 36.3°C to 37.1°C (measured orally). Fever is often a sign of infection or disease.chills.swelling and bloating of the abdomen.

Does inguinal hernia have cough impulse?

Hernias of the groin typically present with the following clinical features: Single lump in the inguinal region. Positive cough impulse (unless incarcerated) Soft on palpation.

What is the difference between incarcerated and strangulated hernia?

If the contents of the hernia are not able to be reduced, the hernia is considered incarcerated. A strangulated hernia occurs when the hernia contents are ischemic due to a compromised blood supply.

How do you prevent a hernia from coughing?

Avoid heavy coughing Heavy coughing puts stress on your abdomen, which may cause a hernia. As much as possible, avoid excessive and heavy coughing if you're at risk for hernia — if, for example, you've had a hernia before or have weakened abdominal or groin muscles. One common cause of chronic coughing is smoking.

What is an incarcerated bowel hernia?

An incarcerated hernia is a part of the intestine or abdominal tissue that becomes trapped in the sac of a hernia—the bulge of soft tissue that pushes through a weak spot in the abdominal wall. If part of the intestine is trapped, stool may not be able to pass through the intestine.

What type of hernia causes bowel obstruction?

Common types of hernias that cause bowel obstructions can include inguinal, femoral, and incisional. Hiatal hernias can cause an obstruction, but it is usually located in the upper digestive system. Hernias are the second most common cause of small bowel obstruction in the U.S.

How often do incarcerated hernias become strangulated?

As you'd expect, the risk of strangulation is higher (2.8% to 4.5%) among patients presenting for emergency repair of incarcerated hernias.

What can cause a perforated bowel?

Intestinal perforation, defined as a loss of continuity of the bowel wall, is a potentially devastating complication that may result from a variety of disease processes. Common causes of perforation include trauma, instrumentation, inflammation, infection, malignancy, ischemia, and obstruction.

How does perforated bowel happen?

Gastrointestinal perforation (GP) occurs when a hole forms all the way through the stomach, large bowel, or small intestine. It can be due to a number of different diseases, including appendicitis and diverticulitis. It can also be the result of trauma, such as a knife wound or gunshot wound.

Can a perforated bowel go unnoticed?

The most common form of bowel perforation trauma is an accidental injury to the intestine during abdominal surgery. Sometimes, the nick or cut is obvious and the surgeon can repair it during surgery. Other times, it may go unnoticed until symptoms develop after surgery.

How long can you survive with a perforated bowel?

Perforations due to an ischemia of the bowel have a very bad prognosis. With a 1 year-mortality of more than 70 % patients with secondary peritonitis due to postoperative complications have the worst outcome [4].

Introduction

The lifetime risk for development of inguinal hernias is 27% and 3% for men and women, respectively [ 1 - 3 ]. Although some studies have demonstrated that small, asymptomatic inguinal hernias might be observed [ 4, 5 ], the mere presence of an inguinal hernia is an indication for surgical repair by most surgeons.

Case presentation

A 49-year-old African American man presented to a clinic with an 18-month history of a painful, enlarging right groin bulge. On physical examination, he had a large right inguinal hernia containing chronically incarcerated bowel with a scrotal component. He denied any history consistent with obstructive symptoms.

Discussion

Inguinal hernia repairs comprise a large portion of general surgical procedures. There are more than 20 million hernias estimated to be repaired annually around the world [ 2, 8 ]. In the USA, an inguinal herniorrhaphy is the most common elective operation performed with approximately 700,000 cases annually [ 2, 8 ].

Conclusion

The present report describes an unusual complication of an incarcerated hernia in a young man. It is unclear what led to the weakening of the bowel wall causing a transection with a small increase in intraluminal and intra-abdominal pressure such as that produced by coughing.

Consent

Informed consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this manuscript and accompanying image. A copy of the written consent is available for review by the Editor-in-Chief if this journal.

Acknowledgements

This work was made possible by funds from the Dallas VA Research Corporation.

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