INGUINAL HERNIA IN FEMALES.

9 patients of inguinal hernia in females were diagnosed in a total of 50 patients who presented with congenital groin problems, 8 of these were managed surgically. There were 6 small children, 1 young girl and 2 elderly ladies. All children were managed by herniotomy and herniorrhaphy was done in women. 2 patients under one year presented with irreducible hernia, one of them on exploration was found to be having sliding hernia with incarcerated ovary and tube as contents while other one had incarcerated loop of small intestine. Contents were reduced in both the patients after division of external ring as there was no sign of strangulation. One of our patients never turned up for surgery. All the operated patients were asymptomatic during the follow up period of 6 months to one year with no recurrence or wound infection. None presented on the contralateral side on follow up. Repair of inguinal hernia in females should be carried out at the earliest after a diagnosis is made, because incarceration occurs more frequently in the first year of life, as seen in this study.