An abdominal wall hernia is a protrusion (bulge) through a defect (hole) in the muscles of the abdominal wall. It may contain loops of bowel. The commonest site for this on the abdominal wall is the groin. Depending on the exact location in the groin, they can be described as inguinal (direct or indirect), femoral or Spigelian. There is no need to worry about the exact terminology because they can all be repaired with essentially the same operation particularly when the laparoscopic (key-hole) approach is used.