Caption

Hernia surgery. Surgeons operating to repair a hernia in a patient's abdomen. A hernia is the abnormal protrusion of an organ or tissue through an opening. The most common site of hernias is the abdomen, when a weakness in the abdominal wall evolves into a localized hole, or 'defect', through which adipose (fat) tissue, or abdominal organs covered with peritoneum (the lining of the abdominal cavity), may protrude. Photographed at the Lange Land Hospital, Netherlands.