Peritoneal defect herniation causing small bowel obstruction: a rare complication of transabdominal preperitoneal repair

Laparoscopic approaches to inguinal hernia repair are becoming increasingly more popular as they offer many advantages to open techniques including faster recovery and lower rates of wound infection. However, it is important to recognize complications associated with newer techniques which only become apparent with increased volume and experience. In this report, we describe a rare case of small bowel obstruction (SBO) secondary to peritoneal defect herniation post-transabdominal preperitoneal repair (TAPP). This is an uncommon complication that is sparsely reported in the literature but may have devastating consequences for the patient if unrecognized or mistakenly attributed to adhesional SBO. A high index of suspicion for internal herniation and a low index for reoperation are important with SBO in the early postoperative phase post-TAPP.