Laparoscopic single port needle assisted repair with PIRS technique of a femoral hernia seems a safe and feasible method in children.
Femoral hernia is a rare condition among children [1, 3]. As a result of this condition, there is not a widely accepted single and proven treatment modality in the literature [10].
In addition to conventional open techniques of inguinal hernia surgical repair, there have been many reports regarding the possibility of laparoscopic repair of inguinal hernia since the 1990s [11, 12]. PIRS is claimed to be a safe treatment method in inguinal hernia repair and preferred frequently [6, 9, 13].
Femoral hernia is also repaired by laparoscopy in adults [14]. As a result of wide defects of adult’s femoral region, massive dissection and graft use is needed. In children the approach completely changes. PIRS method has been widely using in pediatric inguinal hernia repair, but also could be preferred to repair femoral hernia due to the smaller size of defect even though it is a direct hernia [15].
In this report, femoral hernias of a 2.5-year-old-girl and a 5.5-year-old-boy were repaired laparoscopically using optical forceps and spinal needle (Fig. 2). The defect was sutured and closed with PIRS technique entirely. After the surgery, the cosmetic outcome was satisfactory, the patients discharged on the same day and there were no complications (Fig. 3).
Limitations of this study is reporting only two patients with a short follow-up period (10–12 months). In this period, there was no complication seen, but the lipoma could be excised in the future cases, to avoid possible recurrences. On the other hand;, this limitation is a result of disease’s rarity.
Laparoscopic single port needle-assisted repair with PIRS method seems to be a safe and minimal invasive method of femoral hernia repair.