Strangulated external abdominal wall hernia: experience with 53 cases in Port Harcourt, Nigeria

External abdominal wall hernias located in the groin commonly affect the male population, and are the most frequent cause of mechanical small-and large-bowel obstructions seen in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. The mortality associated with gangrenous strangulations of these hernias is quite high (29.4 percent), as revealed by this report. Early surgical intervention for strangulated hernias reduced this mortality to 0 percent for 34 patients who had ischemic, but viable, bowels at surgery.