A Case Report and Literature Review on Incidental Morgagni Hernia in Bariatric Patients: To Repair or Not to Repair?

Abstract

Morgagni hernia (MH) is a congenital diaphragmatic hernia that is often asymptomatic in adult patients. These defects may be discovered incidentally during the intraoperative period and repaired laparoscopically with tension-free synthetic mesh when surgery is warranted. Presently, there is a dearth of studies addressing incidental MH repair in the setting of concomitant bariatric surgery. As such, there are no clear guidelines as to whether or not asymptomatic hernias found incidentally during bariatric surgery require operative repair. Herein, we present the case of a morbidly obese female patient with an incidental Morgagni defect that was identified during an elective sleeve gastrectomy. We also reviewed the literature to assess the efficacy of concurrent bariatric surgery and hernia repair.