Femoral hernia The incidence of strangulation in femoral hernias is high. A femoral hernia has often been found to be the cause of unexplained small bowel obstruction. The cough impulse is often absent and is not relied on solely when making a diagnosis of femoral hernia. The lump is more globular than the pear-shaped lump of the inguinal hernia. The bulk of a femoral hernia lies below an imaginary line drawn between the anterior superior iliac spine and the pubic tubercle (which essentially represents the inguinal ligament) whereas an inguinal hernia starts above this line. Nonetheless, it is often impossible to distinguish
Deep circumflex iliac artery Deep circumflex iliac artery The deep circumflex iliac artery (or deep iliac circumflex artery) is an artery in the pelvis that travels along the iliac crest of the pelvic bone. The deep circumflex iliac artery arises from the lateral aspect of the external iliac artery nearly opposite the origin of the inferior epigastric artery. It ascends obliquely and laterally, posterior to the inguinal ligament, contained in a fibrous sheath formed by the junction of the transversalis fascia and iliac fascia. It travels to the anterior superior iliac spine, where it anastomoses with the ascending branch of the lateral femoral circumflex