Lumbar hernia: surgical anatomy, embryology, and technique of repair

Lumbar hernia is the protrusion of intraperitoneal or extraperitoneal contents through a defect of the posterolateral abdominal wall. Barbette was the first, in 1672, to suggest the existence of lumbar hernias. The first case was reported by Garangeot in 1731. Petit and Grynfeltt delineated the boundaries of the inferior and superior lumbar triangles in 1783 and 1866, respectively. These two anatomical sites account for about 95 per cent of lumbar hernias. Approximately 20 per cent of lumbar hernias are congenital. The rest are either primarily or secondarily acquired. The most common cause of primarily acquired lumbar hernias is increased intra-abdominal pressure. Secondarily acquired lumbar hernias are associated with prior surgical incisions, trauma, and abscess formation. During embryologic development, weakening of the area of the aponeuroses of the layered abdominal muscles that derive from somitic mesoderm, which invades the somatopleure, may potentially lead to lumbar hernias. Repair of lumbar hernias should be performed as early as possible to avoid incarceration and strangulation. The classic repair technique uses the open approach, where closure of the defect is performed either directly or using prosthetic mesh. The laparoscopic approach, either transabdominal or extraperitoneal, is an alternative.