Emergency Minimally Invasive Surgery for Obturator Hernias: A Systematic Review

AIM: Despite their rarity, obturator hernias pose significant clinical challenges due to their high complication rate and frequent emergency presentation. While minimally invasive surgery has proven effective and safe for elective groin hernia repair, its application in emergency settings, particularly for obturator hernias, lacks robust evidence, highlighting a critical knowledge gap in this area. This systematic review aims to evaluate the feasibility of a minimally invasive approach for the repair of obturator hernias in emergency settings. METHODS: A systematic review was conducted searching PubMed, OVID, MEDLINE, Embase, and Cochrane reviews for ((obturator hernia) AND (laparoscop* OR minimal access OR robotic)) AND (strangulat* OR obstruct* OR incarcerat*). The time of the literature is from the establishment of each database to 1 September 2023. Critical appraisal used the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) appraisal checklist. RESULTS: A systematic review of 337 manuscripts identified 47 relevant studies, including 39 case reports, 4 case series, and 4 retrospective studies. Minimally invasive approaches, particularly totally extraperitoneal (TEP), transabdominal preperitoneal (TAPP), and the Kugel procedure, demonstrated favourable outcomes for obturator hernias, including shorter operative times, reduced hospital stays, low recurrence rates, effective management of complications, and improved diagnostics, with success dependent on timely intervention, bowel viability, and patient selection. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that minimal access surgery can effectively avoid unnecessary laparotomy for hernial content assessment, particularly when employing the TAPP approach. While emergency repair of obturator hernias using minimal access techniques appears feasible and safe, achieving outcomes comparable to open surgery requires further high-quality evidence.