Left hepatic lobe herniation through an incisional anterior abdominal wall hernia and right adrenal myelolipoma: a case report and review of the literature

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Herniation of the liver through an anterior abdominal wall hernia defect is rare. To the best of our knowledge, only three cases have been described in the literature.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A 70-year-old Mexican woman presented with a one-week history of right upper quadrant abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and jaundice to our Department of General Surgery. Her medical history included an open cholecystectomy from 20 years earlier and excessive weight. She presented with jaundice, abdominal distension with a midline surgical scar, right upper quadrant tenderness, and a large midline abdominal wall defect with dullness upon percussion and protrusion of a large, tender, and firm mass. The results of laboratory tests were suggestive of cholestasis. Ultrasound revealed choledocholithiasis. A computed tomography scan showed a protrusion of the left hepatic lobe through the anterior abdominal wall defect and a well-defined, soft tissue density lesion in the right adrenal topography. An endoscopic common bile duct stone extraction was unsuccessful. During surgery, the right adrenal tumor was resected first. The hernia was approached through a median supraumbilical incision; the totality of the left lobe was protruding through the abdominal wall defect, and once the lobe was reduced to its normal position, a common bile duct surgical exploration with multiple stone extraction was performed. Finally, the abdominal wall was reconstructed. Histopathology revealed an adrenal myelolipoma. Six months after the operation, our patient remains in good health.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The case of liver herniation through an incisional anterior abdominal wall hernia in this report represents, to the best of our knowledge, the fourth such case reported in the literature. The rarity of this medical entity makes it almost impossible to specifically describe predisposing risk factors for liver herniation. Obesity, the right adrenal myelolipoma mass effect, and the previous abdominal surgery are likely to have contributed to incisional hernia formation.</p

The importance of intraoperative cholangiography during laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) using an electrosurgery energy source was successfully performed in 59 (95%) out of 62 selected patients. The procedures were performed by different surgical teams at Trakya University, Medical Fakulty, in the department of General Surgery and the Karl-Franzens-University School of Medicine, in the department of General Surgery. Cholangiography was routine at Karl Franzens University and selective at Trakya University. Laparoscopic intraoperative cholangiography (IOC) was performed in 48 (81.3%) patients, and open IOC was performed in 3 patients. Two patients had common duct stones; one of which was unsuspected preoperatively. These cases underwent endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) and endoscopic papillotomy (EP). One patient had a choledocal tumor, unsuspected preoperatively. Anatomical anomalies were not identified. Cholangiography could not be performed in one case in which there was no suspected pathology. ERCP was performed on one patient 30 days after being discharged because of acute cholangitis. In this case, residual stones were identified in the choledocus. Four patients underwent open cholecystectomy because of tumor, unidentified cystic duct or common bile duct pathology that could not be visualized on the cholangiogram. Our study suggests that cholangiography performed via the cystic duct before any structures are divided can prevent the most serious complication of laparoscopic cholecystectomy--common duct injury. We recommend that cholangiography be attempted on all patients undergoing LC