To analyze the effect of ultrasound in detecting contralateral concealed hernia in adult patients with unilateral inguinal hernia.

We collected the data of 373 patients who were admitted to Meihekou Central Hospital for unilateral inguinal hernia and underwent laparoscopic trans-abdominal preperitoneal hernioplasty from January 2021 to April 2022. Retrospective analysis has been done based on these data. All patients underwent inguinal ultrasonography before operation, the results and intraoperative results were compared to clarify the effect of ultrasound in detecting contralateral concealed hernia in patients with unilateral inguinal hernia.

373 patients were diagnosed with unilateral inguinal hernia by physical examination in the outpatient department, and bilateral inguinal ultrasonography was done after admission. 21 patients had concealed hernia on the opposite side detected by ultrasound before the operation, and all of them were confirmed during the operation. Of the other 352 patients with contralateral inguinal hernia not detected by ultrasound, 48 patients were diagnosed with contralateral inguinal hernia during the operation, and 304 patients were not found to have contralateral hernia. The sensitivity and specificity of ultrasound in detecting contralateral concealed hernia were 30.4% and 100% respectively, The overall accuracy of ultrasound was 87.1%.

Ultrasound has good specificity in detecting contralateral concealed hernia in patients with unilateral inguinal hernia, and the overall accuracy is high. It has certain guiding significance for the discovery and diagnosis of concealed hernia.