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Diagnosis of a Lump in the Groin in the Adult

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Abstract

Swelling and/or pain in the groin are a common presentation for the abdominal surgeon. Nevertheless, diagnosis of a problem in the groin can still, in some cases, be a difficult clinical dilemma. It is fair to say that the diagnosis of an obvious swelling in the groin is usually straight forward, in terms of a hernia being present or not. However, the traditional inguinoscrotal hernia, where the hernial sac passes down into the scrotum, is a relatively uncommon event. Coupled with the increasing body mass index of the population, it is increasingly common for even a large groin hernia not to result in an obvious groin swelling. In some cases, where there is diagnostic doubt, thinking about several key questions may focus the investigation pathway:

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of General Surgery, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

    Andrew C. de Beaux

  2. Department of Radiology, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

    Dilip Patel

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Correspondence to Andrew C. de Beaux .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Department of Surgery, Peninsula College of Medicine & Dentistr, N/A, Plymouth, PL4 8AA, Devon, United Kingdom

    Andrew N. Kingsnorth

  2. , Surgeons Group of Baton Rouge, Our Lady of the Lake Physician Group, N/A, Baton Rouge, 70808, Louisiana, USA

    Karl A. LeBlanc

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de Beaux, A.C., Patel, D. (2013). Diagnosis of a Lump in the Groin in the Adult. In: Kingsnorth, A., LeBlanc, K. (eds) Management of Abdominal Hernias. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84882-877-3_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84882-877-3_13

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