Petit's Lumbar Hernia: Repair with Marlex Mesh

A lumbar hernia is a rare pathological derangement of anatomy, especially when the postoperative type is excluded. A Petit's lumbar hernia is, indeed, an extremely rare defect. In fact, this hernia occurs so infrequently that only an occasional surgeon has the opportunity of seeing and repairing one through the course of his entire life. There are many large institutions which do not have 1 such case recorded. Because of their rarity, 2 cases of Petit's hernia are being presented, in addition to our experience with lumbar hernias in general. Only these 2 cases of Petit's hernia were found in over 1 million new-patient registrations. One of these was repaired with Marlex mesh, and this is the first such case to our knowledge at the present time. Anatomy Because of the rarity of this defect, the anatomy of the general area in which this hernia occurs will be reviewed. Several varieties