Peritoneal mesothelioma masquerading as an inguinal hernia

Abstract

We report a case of an 80-year-old man who presented with a right inguinal hernia that appeared incarcerated. On exploration a sausage shaped mass was found in the sac, which was debulked and histologically shown to be a well differentiated malignant peritoneal mesothelioma. Rare tumours may present as inguinal hernias and palliative debulking may be effective when they present in inguinal hernia sacs.