Presentation and outcome of strangulated external hernia in a district general hospital.

Two hundred consecutive emergency hernia operations are reviewed. Mortality from this condition has not significantly altered in the past 30 years. Half of the patients presented 48 h or more from the onset of symptoms. Mortality and bowel resection were clearly linked with the duration of symptoms prior to admission. There were no reliable clinical signs to predict the likelihood of bowel strangulation. Recurrent incisional and femoral hernias were associated with high resection rates and mortality. Right-sided hernias appeared to strangulate more frequently than left-sided hernias.