Strangulated obturator hernia: still deadly

The case of an elderly, emaciated female patient with recurrent lower abdominal and hip pain associated with nausea and vomiting due to an incarcerated obturator hernia is described. The presence of a Howship-Romberg sign and a tender mass on digital rectal examination in this thin, elderly woman with a small bowel obstruction led to the rapid diagnosis of an obturator hernia by computed tomography (CT). The high mortality rate associated with this most lethal of all abdominal hernias requires a high index of suspicion to facilitate rapid diagnosis and surgical intervention if the survival rate is to be improved.