title: Amyand's hernia: 11years of experience.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Presence of the vermiform appendix in an inguinal hernia sac is known as Amyand's hernia. This may present as a tender inguinal swelling and is often misdiagnosed as irreducible or strangulated hernia.
  
  
  METHODS
  Between January 2003 and December 2013 we treated 4498 patients with inguinal hernias and performed 3267 appendectomies. Among these; 46 had an Amyand's hernia. Age, sex, presenting symptoms, treatment modality, histopathological findings, duration of hospitalization, and post-surgical outcomes were analyzed retrospectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All patients were boys. The mean age was 16.7months (15days-8years). 37 (80.4%) right, 2 (4.3%) left and 7 (15.2%) bilateral hernioplasties were performed. Nine patients underwent emergency surgery with an initial diagnosis of incarcerated hernia; Amyand's hernia was an incidental finding in the remaining 37 patients. Operative findings included 33 normal appendices, 9 inflamed appendices, one perforated appendix, and three appendices adherent to the hernia sac. Eighteen patients had appendectomy during hernia repair, and the other 33 had hernia repair without appendectomy. None of the patients developed recurrent hernia or appendicitis within the follow-up period.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In Amyand's hernia the appendix should be examined carefully. A classification of Amyand's hernia according to the presenting symptoms and inflammatory status of the appendix may help to determine whether or not to proceed with appendectomy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, Fırat University Medical Faculty, Elazıg, Turkey. Electronic address: ebcigsar@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Emine Burcu
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Cigsar
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, Sisli Hamidiye Etfal Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Cetin Ali
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Karadag
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, Sisli Hamidiye Etfal Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ali Ihsan
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Dokucu
mesh_terms: D001062:Appendectomy; D001065:Appendix / Q000601:surgery*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006552:Hernia, Inguinal / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery*; D059685:Herniorrhaphy; D006801:Humans; D033162:Incidental Findings; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies
keywords: Amyand's hernia; Appendectomy; Classification; Prophylactic appendectomy; inguinal hernia