AUTHOR=Shuttleworth Paul , Sabri Shariq , Mihailescu Andrei 

TITLE=The Utility of Minimally Invasive Surgery in the Emergency Management of Femoral Hernias: A Systematic Review

JOURNAL=Journal of Abdominal Wall Surgery

VOLUME=2

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontierspartnerships.org/journals/journal-of-abdominal-wall-surgery/articles/10.3389/jaws.2023.11217

DOI=10.3389/jaws.2023.11217

ISSN=2813-2092

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Background:</bold> Femoral hernias are a relatively rare type of hernia but have a high complication rate, with a high proportion either presenting as an emergency or requiring emergency management. Minimal access surgery has been shown to be safe, with good results, in an elective setting, but there is little published evidence of its utility in an emergency.</p><p><bold>Methods:</bold> A systematic review was conducted searching PubMed, OVID, Embase, and Cochrane reviews for ((Femoral hernia) AND (laparoscop* OR minimal access OR robotic)) AND (strangulat* OR obstruct* OR incarcerat*).</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> 286 manuscripts were identified of which 33 were relevant. 24 were individual case reports, 3 case series, 4 cohort studies or case control series, and 2 high level reviews of National registers.</p><p><bold>Conclusion:</bold> Minimal access surgery can avoid an unnecessary laparotomy for the assessment of hernial contents, especially <italic>via</italic> a TAPP approach. Minimal access repair of femoral hernias as an emergency is feasible and can be done safely with results similar to open surgery but good quality evidence is lacking.</p>