Obturator hernia - a rare etiology of lateral thigh pain: A case report

BACKGROUND: Lateral thigh pain is a common complaint in patients visiting a pain clinic. Herein, we describe the case of a patient with lateral thigh pain caused by an obturator hernia. CASE SUMMARY: An 83-year-old woman visited the emergency room with suddenly aggravated right lateral thigh pain. Magnetic resonance imaging of the thigh revealed no abnormal findings in the lateral thigh area. However, an obturator hernia between the pectineus and obturator externus muscles was observed by chance. Retroperitoneal computed tomography revealed a herniated small bowel with an incarceration point at the right obturator canal and a dilated loop of the small bowel upstream. Ultrasonography of the right inguinal region revealed a distended bowel loop in the right pectineus muscle. CONCLUSION: Our report provides clinicians with information that an obturator hernia can cause lateral thigh pain.