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Forty-one cases of round ligament varicosities that are easily misdiagnosed as inguinal hernias

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Abstract

Purpose

To demonstrate the benefit and safety of conservative therapy for round ligament varicosities (RLVs) that are easily misdiagnosed as inguinal hernias.

Methods

We retrospectively analyzed clinical materials of 41 consecutive cases of RLVs diagnosed by ultrasound in a single hospital from January 2011 to December 2015. Misdiagnosis rate, clinical and sonographic features, management after diagnosis and prognosis were recorded.

Results

All forty-one cases were pregnant females in their second or third trimester. Twenty-eight cases were first misdiagnosed as inguinal hernias (68.3%). Thirty cases presented as reducible swelling in the inguinal area (73.2%), and twenty-five of which were painful (61.0%). Four cases only felt pain in the inguinal area without swelling (9.7%). Seven cases had no obvious discomfort (17.1%). All cases were diagnosed as RLVs by gray-scale and color Doppler ultrasonography and justified a wait-and-see strategy. Thirty-seven cases were followed until total recovery after delivery (follow-up rate 90.2%). Swelling with or without pain disappeared spontaneously postpartum.

Conclusions

RLVs are easily misdiagnosed as inguinal hernias and color Doppler of the inguinal area is the best examination for making the correct diagnosis. Conservative therapy for RLV is beneficial and safe when assured by color Doppler.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Hernia and Abdominal Wall Surgery, Hangzhou First People’s Hospital, Hangzhou, China

    H. Yonggang, Y. Jing, W. Ping, G. Guodong, Z. Fangjie & W. Hao

  2. Department of Ultrasonography, Hangzhou First People’s Hospital, Hangzhou, China

    M. Chenxia & X. Xiaojing

Authors
  1. H. Yonggang
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  2. Y. Jing
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  3. W. Ping
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  4. G. Guodong
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  5. M. Chenxia
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  6. X. Xiaojing
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  7. Z. Fangjie
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  8. W. Hao
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Contributions

YH and JY did the writing of this paper, and reviewed related literatures. CM and XX did most of the ultrasound examinations, and collected ultrasound images. PW and GG were the superior directors who were referred to when managing clinical cases. FZ and HW helped in case file collecting and follow-up.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Y. Jing.

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Conflict of interest

YH declares no conflict of interest. JY declares no conflict of interest. PW declares no conflict of interest. GG declares no conflict of interest. CM declares no conflict of interest. XX declares no conflict of interest. FZ declares no conflict of interest. HW declares no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

Ethical approval was agreed by the ethical committee of the institution.

Human and animal rights

This study was approved by Institutional Review Board approval and the study including human participants had been performed in accordance with the ethical standards of the Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments.

Informed consent

Privacy of the published images and pictures of all the patients were protected. Written informed consent was obtained from all the patients.

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Yonggang, H., Jing, Y., Ping, W. et al. Forty-one cases of round ligament varicosities that are easily misdiagnosed as inguinal hernias. Hernia 21, 901–904 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10029-017-1670-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10029-017-1670-3

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