BACKGROUND: To evaluate the role of colagen in etiopathogeny of inguinal hernias through quantitative histochemical analysis of the abdominal rectum sheaths and fascia transversalis. METHODS: Forty male patients with Nyhus type II and IIIa inguinal hernias, were operated, age ranged from 20 to 60 years, and ten control subjects with the same age were autopsied. Samples were collected from rectum sheaths and fascia transversalis from each group, and collored by the histochemical technique Picrocirius and morphometric analysis, which was carried out by using the image representation technique. These studies focused mainly on identify the possible quantitative changes in collagen in each of the two types of hernias compared to individuals without hernias. RESULTS: We found an increased collagen concentration in rectum sheath when compared to fascia transversalis in all groups studied. These diferences, however, was only estatistically significant in control group. We found no difference in collagen concentration in rectum sheaths and fascia transversalis from pacients with Nyhus type II or IIIa hernias. No diference in collagen concentration was found in hernias'group compared to control group. CONCLUSION: There was no statistically significant difference between the amount of collagen of abdominal rectum sheaths and of the fascia transversalis among patients with Nyhus type II and IIIa inguinal hernias and the amounts found in individuals without hernias.
Inguinal hernia; Collagen; Fascia; Quantitative analysis
