Tomographic Evaluation of Abdominal Wall Hernias

Abdominal wall hernias are very frequent causes of abdominal pain and intestinal obstruction. It's one of the main indications of abdominal surgery. They are relatively common findings in the studies of computed tomography (CT), which allows to identify the defects of the wall, to define the content of the hernia sac, to differentiate the hernias of other abdominal masses and to determine the associate complications, therefore it's constituted in a very important tool for the diagnosis and in the gliding of the treatment. In this article, we review the classification of the abdominal wall hernias, according to their localization and source; we describe their pathophysiology and the characteristic imaging findings in CT, standing out the utility of the pubic tubercle in the differentiation of the inguinal hernias, keeping in mind their surgical importance.