Retroperitoneal dissection of a pancreatic pseudocyst to the left inguinal region.

We describe a patient in whom retroperitoneal dissection of an infected pseudocyst of the pancreas into the left inguinal region imitated an incarcerated hernia. The high level of diastase (32,000 units/ml) in the fluid from the inguinal region and the roentgenologically demonstrated communication between the pancreas and the left inguinal region proved that the source of the fluid was the pancreas. The appearance of a mass in the inguinal region in an alcoholic patient who has recently had pancreatitis should arouse suspicion of an origin in a dissecting pseudocyst of the pancreas.