Adult Morgagni Diaphragmatic Hernia Defect Repair Using Bone Anchors

Andres Narvaez Cordova, MD; Gerardo Davalos, MD; Ramon Diaz Jara, MD; Dana Portenier, MD, FACS; A. Daniel Guerron, MD

Product Details
Product ID: ACS-5882
Year Produced: 2019
Length: 6 min.


There are two main types of diaphragmatic hernias. Bochdalek which involves the lateral and posterior aspects of the diaphragm and is the most common. Morgagni, sometimes called retrosternal, which involves the front part of the diaphragm. Congenital Morgagni hernias represent 3% of all cases and are believed to be caused by failure of fusion of the septum transverse of the diaphragm and the costal arches. Even though, the pathophysiology of Morgagni hernias in adults is still unknown, it is presumed that predisposing conditions that increase intra-abdominal pressure like chronic cough, pregnancy, chronic constipation and trauma act on the pre-existing diaphragmatic defect. A recent review showed that most adult clinical cases presented with either respiratory symptoms such as cough, dyspnea or shortness of breath; or pain in the chest and abdomen. However, a large portion remained asymptomatic at the time of diagnosis. We present a 47-year old female with a history of GERD, asthma who underwent a gastric bypass several years before. For the last year she had intermittent abdominal pain and problems with constipation. A CT scan showed that she had a significant amount of colon in her right chest, without evidence of strangulation or obstruction. On initial inspection there was an anterior right sided diaphragmatic hernia containing most of the transverse colon, which was easily reduced. Then the defect was repaired by approximating the posterior leaf of the diaphragm with the 10th rib using anchoring sutures and reinforcing it with a mesh.