A 33-year-old woman was referred to the department because of a painful induration in her right inguinal region developed after treatment for pelvic in inflammation at the department of gynecology in our hospital. Examinations revealed the retention of lipiodol in the pelvic cavity as well as inguinal induration which was used for a previous hysterosalpingography 4 months earlier. At operation, marked inflammation of a sac of an inguinal hernia and surrounding tissues was seen and excision of the entire hernia sac and herniorraphy by Marcy's method were carried out. Pathological diagnosis was xanthogranulomatous inflammation of the sac.
We concluded that the hernia sac with a xanthogranulomatous change by lipiodol developed symptomatic inflammation due to the spread of pelvic inflammation. This disease must be kept in mind as a probable complication of oleaginous contrast materials such as lipiodol, though it is uncommon.