Objective: The authors report their experience about treatment of a rare case of intestinal (ileal) obstruction by strangulated obturator hernia.
Design: Report of 1 case; evaluation of effectiveness of surgical treatment, 2-years follow-up and revision of literature about its clinical presentation and treatment.
Setting: Operative Unit of General and Thoracic Surgery, Department of Surgical, Anatomical and Oncological Disciplines. Policlinico, University of Palermo.
Interventions: The patient was submitted to curative and radical surgery.
Results: Resolution of the pathology. Follow up (2 years) negative.
Conclusions: Obturator hernia is a rare pathology, with difficult and delayed diagnosis: all these character make dangerous this hernia, with a risk of high morbidity and mortality (delayed diagnosis and treatment). The only useful treatment is surgery, especially in front of intestinal obstruction, with a wide median laparotomy.