a propos d un cas de hernie obturatrice vesicale bilaterale decouvert sur un cadavre d homme fixe d une cinquantaine d annees

the obturator hernia is extremely uncommon. in 252 years only 521 cases or so, have been reported. it is to be found mostly on aged women (9 women out of ten persons, the average age being 67), rather thin, and in poor health condition, owing to a belated diagnostic. the rate of death is high, and the only possible treatment is surgery, either abdominal j or, in certain cases, inguinal. the case we are dealing with, is an obturator hernia of the bladder, found on the fixed corpse of a man, aged about fifty. there are two currently recognized etio-pathogenic theories. one is based on a hypertrophy of the sub-peritoneal fat, the other one particular anatomical disposition of the region, specially in women; however, both these theories fail to account for all the cases because they do not reckon with the vascular influence. we are suggesting a third theory, which proposes a vascular explanation. the particular disposition of the obturating artery may, by itself and in the long run, bring about an obturator hernia. this seems to be the case with our subj ect .