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Groin hernia diagnostics: dynamic inguinal ultrasound (DIUS)

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Abstract

Purpose

Although clinical examination is the gold standard for the diagnosis of groin hernia, imaging procedures can improve the detection of femoral hernias, incipient hernias, and less-common types of hernias (e.g., an obturator hernia). The aim of this study is to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of dynamic inguinal ultrasound (DIUS).

Materials and methods

Between July 2010 and June 2015, 4951 clinical and ultrasound examinations of the groin area were conducted at the Hanse-Hernienzentrum in Hamburg, Germany. The ultrasonographic findings were prospectively evaluated to determine the number of inguinal and femoral hernia diagnoses that were ultrasonically confirmed and also to consider cases in which clinical examination overlooked these diagnoses. The results were compared with the intraoperative findings.

Results

The results show that standardized ultrasound examination of the groin area with high-frequency, small-part linear transducers also serves to accurately display femoral and small or occult groin hernias. The high-level specificity (0.9980) and sensitivity (0.9758) are proof of the procedure’s quality.

Conclusions

To ensure high-quality hernia treatment, regular use of standardized ultrasound examinations is recommended.

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Author notes

  1. Henning Niebuhr and Anita König have contributed equally to the publication

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hanse-Hernienzentrum Hamburg, Alte Holstenstrasse 16, 21031, Hamburg, Germany

    Henning Niebuhr

  2. Abteilung für Anästhesiologie und Operative Intensivmedizin, Bethesda Krankenhaus Bergedorf, Glindersweg 80, 21029, Hamburg, Germany

    Anita König

  3. Department of Vascular Surgery, Institute of Hematology and Transfusion Medicine, Warsaw, Poland

    Maciej Pawlak

  4. Klinik für Chirurgie, Bethesda Krankenhaus Bergedorf, Glindersweg 80, 21029, Hamburg, Germany

    Marco Sailer

  5. Vivantes Klinikum Spandau, Klinik für Chirurgie—Visceral- und Gefäßchirurgie, Neue Bergstraße 6, 13585, Berlin, Germany

    Ferdinand Köckerling

  6. Chirurgische Abteilung, Wilhelmsburger Krankenhaus Groß-Sand, Groß-Sand 3, 21107, Hamburg, Germany

    Wolfgang Reinpold

Authors
  1. Henning Niebuhr
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  2. Anita König
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  3. Maciej Pawlak
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  4. Marco Sailer
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  5. Ferdinand Köckerling
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  6. Wolfgang Reinpold
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Henning Niebuhr.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Ethical approval

This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Niebuhr, H., König, A., Pawlak, M. et al. Groin hernia diagnostics: dynamic inguinal ultrasound (DIUS). Langenbecks Arch Surg 402, 1039–1045 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00423-017-1604-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00423-017-1604-7

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