Full-term pregnancy in an incisional hernia--a case report

We report a case of full-term pregnancy in a 40 year old woman who presented with her fifth pregnancy with the uterus in the incisional hernia sac hanging below the groin. She has had previous abdominal operation through a midline scar. Complication of the previous operation led to the incisional hernia into which she carried a full term pregnancy. Caesarian section and bilateral tubal ligation were done with repair of the incisional hernia with nonabsorbable suture with uneventful postoperative recovery. It is advised that surgeons carrying out abdominal operations for whatever reason, the operations should be done on fit patient as much as possible, proper incisions should be made and the fascia should be closed with non-absorbable sutures (mass closure) in order to avoid occurrence of incisional hernias. Emergency operations in the abdomen including caesarian section, surgical principles should always be observed.