The repair of an inguinal hernia is the surgical procedure most often performed. Complication rates after laparoscopic hernioplasty amount up to 19%, with hematoma/seroma, neuralgia, urinary retention, and chronic pain most frequently reported. Significant complications such as trocar site bleeding or bowel injury occur in 0.4-5.6%, and sporadic intraoperative lesions of the bladder have been mentioned. We present a 48-year-old patient with recurrent dysuria 3 years after transabdominal preperitoneal hernioplasty (TAPP). The preoperative diagnostic evaluation led to the assumption of an intravesical mesh dislocation. In spite of extensive adhesions between the mesh and the bladder wall, the mesh including five fixation coils could be removed via a suprapubic access. The postoperative period was without complications, and the patient has no complaints. The incidence of complications after laparoscopic hernioplasty is low. Still, severe problems such as mesh rejection, spermatic granuloma, or mesh migration into the small and large intestine do occur. Migration of a mesh into the urinary bladder has only been described twice.

Malignant tumors of the spermatic cord are rare with primary neoplasms being mostly sarcomas. Adenocarcinomas of the spermatic cord are found extremely seldom and are predominantly metastases of extragonadal tumors. We present an asymptomatic 47-year-old patient who was referred to our clinic after a vasectomy had been performed and the histological examination had surprisingly shown adenocarcinoma of the left spermatic cord. Extensive laboratory analysis and diagnostic imaging did not demonstrate any testicular, spermatic cord, or extragonadal tumor. To exclude a mix-up of specimens, we performed DNA analysis. Microsatellite PCR clearly demonstrated the different origins of the tumor and the vasectomy specimen. Specimen mix-up or contamination may happen in any phase of surgical or pathological processing. In any case of clinical uncertainty concerning the identity of a tissue specimen, this possibility has to be taken into consideration. Microsatellite PCR can clearly identify the origin of tissue samples even on embedded material.