Summary

This case reports the presentation and investigation of a 64-year-old woman presenting with symptoms of bowel obstruction and found to have synchronous intraluminal migration of a polypropylene mesh from a ventral hernia repair and splenosis compressing the stomach wall. The use of synthetic mesh in any type of hernia repair has a number of risks, one of which is transmigration. This is a very rare complication but has been reported in a number of cases following both open and transabdominal pre-peritoneal repairs of inguinal hernias. Heterotopic splenic tissue or “splenosis” can be a cause of a soft tissue mass, which can mimic a neoplasm leading to misdiagnosis. These implants result from either splenic trauma or after splenic surgery.