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Diagnostics of Inguinal Hernias

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Laparo-endoscopic Hernia Surgery

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Abstract

For generations, careful physical examination of the groin in patients presenting with inguinal pathology has been regarded as an essential surgical skill. Already in the eighteenth century, the famous Dutch surgeon Petrus Camper emphasized: “Among the defects of our body there are none of any more concern therefore requiring precise investigation, than hernias” [12]. In current surgical practice, the presence of an inguinal hernia can be diagnosed quite accurately by history and physical examination, and additional diagnostic modalities are seldom needed [17, 28]. The presenting symptom of a groin hernia is either discomfort or pain in the groin in the majority of patients [10]. Approximately one third of all patients is asymptomatic at presentation and presents with the sign of a non-tender bulge in the groin.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, VUMC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Baukje Van Den Heuvel

Authors
  1. Baukje Van Den Heuvel
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Correspondence to Baukje Van Den Heuvel .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Em.Director of Surgical Department, Marienhospital Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany

    Reinhard Bittner

  2. Academic Teaching Hospital of Charitè Medical School, Vivantes Hospital, Department of Surgery and Center for Minimally Invasive Surgery, Berlin, Germany

    Ferdinand Köckerling

  3. Department of General Surgery, Creighton University School of Medicine, Omaha, Nebraska, USA

    Robert J. Fitzgibbons, Jr.

  4. Louisiana State University School of Medicine, Department of Surgery, Our Lady of the Lake Physician Group, Department of Surgery, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA

    Karl A. LeBlanc

  5. Norton Thoracic Institute, Dignity Health, Creighton University School of Medicine (Phoenix campus), Phoenix, Arizona, USA

    Sumeet K. Mittal

  6. Minimal Access, Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, Max Super Specialty Hospital Saket, New Delhi, India

    Pradeep Chowbey

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Van Den Heuvel, B. (2018). Diagnostics of Inguinal Hernias. In: Bittner, R., Köckerling, F., Fitzgibbons, Jr., R., LeBlanc, K., Mittal, S., Chowbey, P. (eds) Laparo-endoscopic Hernia Surgery. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-55493-7_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-55493-7_2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-662-55491-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-662-55493-7

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