Congenital lumbar hernia.

Congenital lumbar hernia (CLH) is a rare anomaly with only 45 cases reported in the English-language literature. This paper describes nine patients with CLH treated in our unit. Unusual features included the relatively high incidence of inferior lumbar hernia, presentation at the age of 6 years in one case, and an association with hydrometrocolpos and anorectal malformation, which is hitherto unreported. In seven patients the hernia could be repaired successfully. One patients' parents refused surgery for the CLH after treatment of a hydrometrocolpos and another died of fulminant pneumonia before the operation. Early operation is the treatment of choice, and repair with local tissues is preferable. The need for prosthetic material arises when the size of the defect is large. A successful operation offers a good quality of life.