Rutkow plug repair in inguinal hernia - general and visceral surgery

In the Rutkow plug repair for inguinal hernia a cone-shaped shell (plug) is inserted into the local defect posterior to the transversalis fascia. A second flat mesh, the onlay patch (resembling the Lichtenstein prosthesis) is placed anterior to the plug.

Make the skin incision, measuring about 4 cm, in the line of the inguinal canal 2 fingers medial to it (solid line), or make a transverse incision 2 fingers superior to the pubic bone. Then divide the subcutaneous tissue down to the external oblique aponeurosis.

Now longitudinally divide the fibers of the external oblique, including the superficial inguinal ring. After clamping the aponeurotic flaps and retracting them upward, free the aponeurosis from the internal oblique and cremaster by blunt dissection.

Caution: The iliohypogastric nerve courses immediately below the aponeurosis!

After dividing the cremaster muscle longitudinally, excise its fibers leaving generous stumps, thereby freeing the cord. In this step of the procedure the ilioinguinal nerve and the genital branch of the genitofemoral nerve must be spared.

Pass a tape around the spermatic cord, gently lift it and free the cord by blunt dissection from the transversalis fascia below.

Important: Postoperative neuralgia can be prevented by proceeding as follows: If you cannot spare the ilioinguinal and/or hypogastric nerves and/or the genital branch of the genitofemoral nerve, you must excise them and infiltrate their stumps with local anesthetic.

Sparing the cord, free the hernia sac down to the hernia defect in the transversalis fascia. In order to positively identify the spermatic cord structures, free the deep inguinal ring completely and follow the cord into the ring.