An inguinal hernia of a third kind?

Inguinal hernias are classified anatomically into indirect and direct types. We illustrate two cases of an inguinal hernia where the defect was demonstrated to lie between the deep ring and the inferior epigastric vessels, therefore, not fitting the standard criteria for either direct or indirect inguinal hernias. Taking this into account, we propose that the hernia which we describe should either be considered as a completely new type of inguinal hernia or, alternatively, all of the currently accepted classifications should be changed or adapted to incorporate it.