Small abdominal wall hernias may be difficult to palpate on
physical examination, and therefore hernias are an often-overlooked cause of
pain or other complications. Because of its real-time nature, ultrasound has
taken a central role in the evaluation of abdominal wall hernias, since many
hernias are not present in the resting state. Since dynamic maneuvers may be
necessary for diagnosis, many hernias go undetected by CT or MRI. This
presentation will discuss the anatomy and technique pertinent to the diagnosis
of abdominal wall hernias. Pathological examples of the different hernia types including inguinal, femoral, paraumbilical, and epigastric will be presented utilizing both static images and video clips.
