Laparoscopic repair of a right-sided paraduodenal hernia

With an incidence of less than 1%, paraduodenal hernias are very rare but account for ~0.2–5.8% of mechanical small bowel obstruction and carry a mortality rate of 20–50%. Right-sided paraduodenal hernias are three times less frequent than left-sided paraduodenal hernias. We report the case of a 37-year-old man who suffered from colicky abdominal pain accompanied by vomiting. The computed tomography scan showed a mechanical ileus, caused by a presumed paraduodenal hernia, and we chose an elective laparoscopic surgical approach. The patient recovered quickly and was discharged on the second postoperative day. Paraduodenal hernias are a diagnostic challenge as they are typically characterized by long-term non-specific abdominal symptoms and are only detected in the event of acute intestinal obstruction. Until now, laparoscopic therapy has only been described in eight case reports and we review this rare condition and the surgical options.