Herniography: analysis of its role and limitations.

INTRODUCTION: Herniography is a radiographic procedure shown to be valuable in the examination of groin symptoms. It is useful in clinical situations, including the detection of occult hernia, the investigation of groin hernia when physical findings are equivocal, and the assessment of pain after inguinal hernia repair.

OBJECTIVE: To systematically review the current literature on the use of herniography and to evaluate its reliability, risk, and limitations.

METHOD: The Medline database was searched for publications on herniography.

RESULTS: Herniography has a low false-positive rate, ranging from 0 to 18.75%. The sensitivity rate ranges from 81 to 100%, and the specificity rate ranges from 92 to 98.4%.

CONCLUSION: Herniography is a safe and effective diagnostic procedure for assessing obscure groin symptoms. It has the potential of reducing the incidence of unnecessary operations. It should be considered in the evaluation of patients where the etiology of inguinal pain is unclear.