Post-operative internal hernia through an orifice underneath the right common iliac artery after Dargent's operation

We report the case of a 39-year-old woman with ileus resulting from a small bowel incarceration underneath the right common iliac artery. The patient had a history of a radical trachelectomy with laparoscopic pelvic lymphadenectomy ("Dargent's operation") for cervical carcinoma. After dissection of the iliac vessels, a small bowel loop could slide underneath the common iliac artery. The hernia was closed by gluing a collagen patch over the right common iliac artery onto the retroperitoneal cavity. To our knowledge, such a case has not previously been reported in the medical literature.