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
Inguinal canal Inguinal canal The inguinal canals are the two passages in the anterior abdominal wall which in males convey the spermatic cords and in females the round ligament of uterus. The inguinal canals are larger and more prominent in males. There is one inguinal canal on each side of the midline. The inguinal canals are situated just above the medial half of the inguinal ligament. In both sexes the canals transmit the ilioinguinal nerves. The canals are approximately 3.75 to 4 cm long. , angled anteroinferiorly and medially. A first-order approximation is to visualize each canal as a cylinder. To help