Background The inguinal region is an area of complex anatomy that could contain diverse uncommon contents in routine clinical practice. Although inguinal hernia repair is one of the commonest surgeries done routinely, thorough preoperative imaging has a significant impact on the outcome of the surgery, by revealing the presence of unusual contents in the inguinal region. Aim The aim of this article is to review the differential diagnosis of the uncommon inguinal pathologies, which can simulate an inguinal hernia, to determine, and to simplify the treatment approach. Conclusions A profound understanding of the imaging characteristics of uncommon inguinal pathologies is crucial for both the radiologists (to prevent misdiagnosis) and the treating physicians (to avoid surgical complications) and ensure optimal management.
Keywords: Amyand hernia; inguinal canal; inguinal hernia; undescended testis; ureteral hernia.
Indian Radiological Association. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ ).