Ovarian Prolapse vs. Prolapse of Gonads

Left picture: An ovarian prolapse is present in this girl, which is a typical incident in female infants with inguinal hernia. Due to the usually narrow neck of the hernia sac and the shape of the protruding ovary, a spontaneous reduction of the gonads occurs less frequently in girls than in boys. Right picture: Here, there is the suspicion of a testicular feminization, which must be confirmed by a biopsy of the gonad and chromosomal analysis. In case of repeated protrusions of an inguinal hernia in girls showing quick spontaneous reductions, a testicular feminization must always be considered; in such cases, a hernia sac is present which has a wide communication with the peritoneal cavity.

In both young female infants gonads have been found in the sac of an inguinal hernia during operative revision. Right picture: The inguinal revision was performed due to bilateral, recurrently protruding inguinal hernias. What are you thinking of? Left picture: Here, surgery was performed due to the impossibility of manual reduction of a unilateral inguinal hernia (= irreducible inguinal hernia). What is the reason for that? Left picture: An ovary is recognizable in the hernia sac, and a fallopian tube behind it. Right picture: Here, a fallopian tube is missing in spite of the wide neck of the hernia sac, and the very small bipartite gonad does not correspond to a normal ovary.