A Littre's hernia is an abdominal wall hernia that involves the Meckel's diverticulum, which is a congenital pouch formation on the small intestine that contains tissue left-over during the formation of the digestive tract and its organs. A Meckel's diverticulum is usually located on the lower part of the small intestine near the rectum and lower abdomen wall. When an abdominal wall hernia develops, sometimes the Meckel's diverticulum pokes through the hernia opening and into the hernia sac. The complicated hernia is called a Littre's hernia - named for Alexis Littre, a French anatomist and surgeon who discovered the condition in 1700. Littre's hernias are rare and develop more often in inguinal hernias than other types of abdominal wall hernias.
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