Complete colonic obstruction caused by a sigmoid colon cancer incarcerated in an inguinal hernia sac.

An 85-year-old man with a clinical and x-ray picture consistent with a large bowel obstruction had a large left inguinal hernia with an incarcerated loop of sigmoid colon containing a small annular constricting colon carcinoma. Colonic obstruction due to inguinal hernia alone is so rare that a thorough evaluation should be done preoperatively in any patient believed to have colonic obstruction due to inguinal hernia.