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Shingles pseudohernia (postherpetic)

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

Postherpetic abdominal pseudohernia is uncommon

  • incidence of segmental motor weakness occurs in approximately 2% of patients with herpes zoster (1)
    • been reported that 0.7% of herpes zoster infections are associated with abdominal wall hernia (2,3)

  • should be be suspected when a patient develops motor dysfunction coincident with or following a herpes zoster eruption

  • presentation may reveal deviation of the umbilicus and central line of the abdomen to the unaffected side suggests abdominal wall muscle paralysis

  • postherpetic abdominal pseudohernia is potentially reversible and does not require surgical intervention
    • most patients with pseudohernia after herpes zoster will recover in one year, without substantial sequelae (4)

Reference:

  • 1. Dobrev, H., P. Atanassova, and V. Sirakov. 2008. Postherpetic abdominal-wall pseudohernia. Clin. Exp. Dermatol. 33:677-678.
  • Thomas JE, Howard FM Jr. Segmental zoster paresis--a disease profile. Neurology1972;358:459-66.
  • Mancuso M, Virgili MP, Pizzanelli C, et al. Abdominal pseudohernia caused by herpes zoster truncal D12 radiculoneuropathy. Arch Neurol2006;358:1327.
  • Oliveira PD, dos Santos Filho PV, de Menezes Ettinger JE, et al. Abdominal-wall postherpetic pseudohernia. Hernia 2006; 10:364-6.

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