Successful Treatment of Inguinal Lymphocele After Angiomyomatous Hamartoma Resection During Inguinal Hernia Repair

Lymphocele is a relatively common complication following lymphadenectomy of the inguinal lymph nodes; however, it is less common after open inguinal hernia repair. Postoperative lymphocele is usually caused by unrecognized injury to lymphatic vessels during surgical dissection and commonly requires reoperation to ligate the leaking lymphatics. Angiomyomatous hamaromas are rare lymphatic formations of unknown cause that can be treated with aspiration, sclerotherapy, and drain placement, but surgical intervention is often required. This finding is associated with replacement of parenchymal lymph tissue with vascular and smooth muscle cells.

The authors report the case of a 59-year-old African American male who underwent open inguinal hernia repair and was found to have incidentally an angiomyomatous hamartoma, which was excised but complicated with a postoperative lymphocele. The patient was successfully treated with the aid of negative pressure wound therapy.

Negative pressure wound therapy has rarely been used to treat postoperative lymphocele. To the authors' knowledge, this case is the first to document use of negative pressure wound therapy for lymphocele following angiomyomatous hamartoma excision.