A case of superior lumbar hernia.

A case of a superior lumbar hernia in a 50 year old woman is described herein. She presented with a 7 x 8 cm soft, nontender, smooth-surfaced mass in the left flank, and barium meal with follow through showed herniation of the descending colon. At operation, a 6 x 5 cm defect was found in the transversalis fascia, which was repaired with mattress sutures to the transversalis fascia together with suturing of the external oblique to the latissimus dorsi. This article presents the above case and reviews the published literature relating to this subject.