Obturator hernia is extremely uncommon in men. This paper deals with two male cases of obturator hernia.
Patient 1, a 79-year-old man, seen at the hospital because of abdominal pain and vomiting was indwelt a long tube with a diagnosis of intestinal obstruction of unknown origin. No symptomatic remission of ileus was attained, and he was operated on after the diagnosis of intestinal obstruction due to obturator hernia was made by abdominal CT scans 4 days after admission.
Patient 2, an 82-year-old man, seen at the hospital because of a several-day history of femoral pain and vomiting was diagnosed as having intestinal obstruction due to obturator hernia by abdominal CT scans. An emergency operation was carried out on the same day.
In a review of male cases of obturator hernia including ours, no cases in which their hernias were spontaneously relieved have been reported, and, from that standpoint, early diagnosis by means of pelvic CT scanning and operation are especially important for male cases. These two cases are presented here, together with some discussion on clinicopathological characteristics of male obturator hernia.