News Feed Discussions Being told I have either bilateral inguinal hernias or lipomas…

  • Being told I have either bilateral inguinal hernias or lipomas…

    Posted by Chansel86 on December 15, 2017 at 5:37 am

    Hey all! I’m new to this forum πŸ™‚
    Before I dive in, note that I had single right side inguinal hernia repair back in 2015.

    So basically I went to my Family Doc back in August with gnawing pelvic pain; he ordered a CT with and without contrast. The summary said I had bilateral inguinal hernias (one is 2.6 cm, the other is 3 cm). Took antibiotics and it was remedied. Fast forward to Monday last week (12/4/17) and I awoke with an insanely agonizing right testicle and pelvic pain (lasted for days); the next day, I got a new CT and went to a urologist who labelled it as Prostatitis, by default (as everything else was ‘ruled out’). I could tell that the pain was not originating in the testi, but maybe that nerve was being pinched by the previous hernia/hernia mesh. I mention this situation because this new CT said that I don’t have bilateral hernias, but rather bilateral spermatic cord lipomas. So I don’t know what I really have. The pain got 90% come that Saturday (12/9/17) after being on Cipro, but the pain has not decreased from Saturday and I still have discomfort in my testicle, particularly when I sit and breathe in deeply.

    My primary question is how can the radiologists and doctors tell from a CT if its a lipoma versus something malignant (such as a lipocarcinoma)? My fear is that these ‘growths’ are being overlooked and are causing my pain, and possibly even cancerous, but the surgeon and urologist don’t believe so; they said that they are just surmising the benign assessment based on the lipoma locations.

    Thank you!
    Chase

    LeviProcter replied 7 years ago 3 Members · 2 Replies
  • 2 Replies
  • LeviProcter

    Member
    December 21, 2017 at 2:16 am

    You have hernias.
    I agree with Dr. Twofigh about considering surgical repair.

  • drtowfigh

    Moderator
    December 16, 2017 at 6:12 pm

    First: liposarcomas can occur. They are super rare and often larger than typical spermatic cord lipomas. They are also firm. And MRI (and less often CT scan) can show a difference between benign and malignant, but it’s not always so in smaller lipomas.

    Second: a spermatic cord lipoma is treated as a Hernia if the fat communicates with the fat in the abdomen (prepreritoneal fat).

    Regardless, it seems both CTscans show you have bilateral inguinal hernias. And you have symptoms that support that diagnosis. What is the hesitancy in offering you a surgical solution?

    by the way, antibiotics have an anti-inflammatory effect, which may Be Why your symptoms are a better while on them.

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