Abdominal wall surgery

It is all too easy to dismiss the abdominal wall when it comes to sur­gery and surgical diseases; it isn’t a recognized organ or associated with any major speciality. It does, however, feature heavily in surgical exam­inations. The conditions of the abdominal wall are often chronic and commonplace and thus make an easy ‘target’ for clinical examinations. Understanding the principles of the diseases that afflict the abdominal wall and their assessment and treatment should mean that these sorts of clinical cases should be relatively ‘easy money’ when it comes to scoring marks in exams rather than a trial. The understanding of the principles of pathology and treatment rely heavily on the appreciation of the anatomy of the abdominal wall. Rather than ‘run scared’ because of this, some simple anatomy revision and practice questions should get all the key facts at your fingertips. These questions will test both basic anatomy clinical features and prin­ciples of treatment and are typical of the way in which abdominal wall problems present and are tested in exams.