title: "Laparoscopic excision of a large ovarian cyst herniating into the inguinal canal: a rare presentation".
abstract: Inguinal hernia repair is one of the most common operation in surgical practice. Despite its common occurrence, hernia often poses a surgical dilemma even for a skilled surgeon. The unexpected hernial content constitutes one of these cases. Although the often-reported, unusual contents of a hernia sac include ovary, fallopian tube, vermiform appendix, Meckel diverticulum, and urinary bladder, the herniation of a large ovarian cyst into the inguinal canal has been hardly reported. Majority of the ovarian cysts are asymptomatic or present with vague lower abdominal pain, whereas the presentation of a large ovarian cyst as an inguinolabial swelling as in our patient is extremely rare. We present here one of the few reported cases of a laparoscopic excision of a large ovarian cyst herniating into the inguinal canal and discuss the pathogenesis of an ovarian cyst as hernial content, the advantages and concerns of a laparoscopic approach in resecting large ovarian cysts, and simultaneous management of the inguinal hernia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Muscat, Oman. norman@omantel.net.com
authors.forename: Norman Oneil
authors.initials: NO
authors.lastname: Machado
authors.forename: Lovina S M
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Machado
authors.forename: Wadha
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Al Ghafri
mesh_terms: D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006552:Hernia, Inguinal / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D010535:Laparoscopy / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010048:Ovarian Cysts / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery*