Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 5, 2026

Automated Gait Analysis to Assess Functional Recovery in Rodents with Peripheral Nerve or Spinal Cord Contusion Injury
Published on: October 6, 2020
Inguinal hernia repair: can one identify the three main nerves of the region?
João Vicente Machado Grossi1, Leandro Totti Cavazzola2, Ricardo Breigeiron3
1Faculdade de Medicina de Barbacena, MG, BR.
Objective:
To identify the nerves in the groin during inguinal hernia repair by inguinotomy.
Methods:
We conducted a prospective, sequenced, non-randomized study comprising 38 patients undergoing inguinal hernia repair with placement of polypropylene mesh.
Results:
The male patients were 36 (94.7%), with a mean age and standard deviation of 43.1 ± 14.5, body mass index of 24.4 ± 2.8. Comorbidities were hypertension in two (5.2%), smoking in 12 (31.5%) and obesity in two (5.2%). The hernia was located only on the right in 21 (55.2%) patients, only on the left in 11 (28.9%), and was bilateral in six (15.7%) patients. Prior hernia repair was present in seven (18.4%) patients. The identification of the three nerves during operation was made in 20 (52.6%) patients, the ilioinguinal nerve and the iliohypogastric nerve were identified in 33 (86.8%), and the genital nerve branch of the genitofemoral nerve, in 20 (52.6%). Resection of at least one of the nerves was performed in seven (18.4%) cases, two iliohypogastric nerves and five ilioinguinal nerves. The average operating time was 70.8 ± 18.2 minutes. The hospital stay was 1.42 ± 1.18 days. Ten patients (26.3%) returned to physical activity around the first postoperative visit, and 37 (97.3%) in the last. The follow-up time was 95.6 ± 23.5 days. The inability to identify the ilioinguinal nerve was associated with previous repair (p = 0.035).
Conclusion:
The identification of the three nerves during inguinal hernia surgery has been described in more than half of the cases and prior repair interfered with the identification of ilioinguinal nerve.
Related Concept Videos
Spinal Nerves: Plexus II
The Lumbar Plexus
The lumbar plexus is situated within the lumbar region of the back and is primarily formed by the first four lumbar spinal nerves (L1 to L4). This plexus extends its branches into several nerves, including the...
Spinal Nerves: Plexus I
The Cervical Plexus
The cervical plexus, formed by the anterior rami of the first four...
Abdominal Regions and Quadrants
The simpler quadrants approach, which is more commonly used in medicine, subdivides the cavity with one horizontal and one vertical line that intersects at the patient's umbilicus (navel). The four...
Spinal Nerves: Anatomy
There are 31 bilateral pairs of spinal nerves, each emerging from the spinal cord through the intervertebral foramina—openings between adjacent vertebrae. These nerves are...
Abdominal Aorta
The celiac trunk, a singular artery, divides into the left gastric artery, which...
Muscles of the Pelvic Floor and Perineum
Perineal Layer
The perineum is a diamond-shaped area below the pelvic diaphragm, divided into an anterior urogenital triangle that contains the external genitals and a posterior anal triangle housing the anus. The urogenital...

