The Hernia Blog

I found some pretty serious inguinal hernia pictures today. They display what happens when inguinal hernias are neglected and not treated with proper surgery or support. All inguinal hernias should be looked at by a professional and a long term plan of treatment should be arranged. If surgery is not possible, some method of support should be introduced and the patient should surely not strain the hernia with heavy lifting or stretching.

Link: Inguinal Hernia Pictures

Femoral hernia is a protrusion of the abdominal contents (commonly the intestines) via the femoral canal through a defect in the abdominal wall. It usually presents as a lump in the inner aspect of upper thigh region.

Femoral hernia is the third most common hernia only next to inguinal hernia and incisional hernia and accounts for 17% of all hernias.

Common age group for femoral hernia is 60- 80 years of age. It is rare before 50 years of age and uncommon in children. Females are 10 times more commonly affected than males. Multiparous women are often affected.

Femoral hernia is twice more common in the right side of the groin than in the left side. In 20% of cases it is bilateral.

Chronic cough, smoking, obesity, carrying heavy loads, constipation, benign prostatic hypertrophy are the risk factors for developing a femoral hernia. Read the rest of this entry »

Hiatus hernias are mostly asymptomatic. They are usually recognized incidentally while taking chest x-ray for some other condition. Type I hernia is often associated with gastroesophageal reflux but does not cause any direct symptoms. Paraesophageal hernia causes pain after taking food, bloating, anemia and may or may not be associated with gastroesophageal reflux. Paraesophgeal are often the cause of unexplained anemia in elderly persons. Large paraesophageal hernias cause breathlessness. Obstruction, volvulus (twisting of its contents) and strangulation (compression with compromise in the blood supply) are its complications.

Most hiatus hernias are diagnosed while taking chest x-rays as air fluid level. Upper gastrointestinal contrast study is the gold standard test for diagnosing hiatus hernias. Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy will verify the presence of esophagitis, gastritis, Cameron’s ulcer or lesions that can mimic the symptoms of paraesophgeal hernia. Esophagitis is the inflammation of the esophagus. Gastritis is the inflammation of the stomach. Cameron’s ulcer is the linear ulcer at the junction of the stomach and esophagus. Read the rest of this entry »

Paraesophageal hernia is a type of hiatus hernia. It is also called type II hiatus hernia. It accounts for 3-5% of all hiatus hernias. In this type of hiatus hernia, the gastroesophgeal junction is at the normal position at the level of the diaphragm. The stomach herniates alongside the esophagus in to the chest cavity.

Unlike the sliding type of hiatus hernia, paraesophageal hernia is often symptomatic. In paraesophageal hernia, the entire stomach and sometimes even the intestine and spleen may herniated. Complications like obstruction and volvulus can occur. In volvulus, the structures get twisted causing symptoms. Read the rest of this entry »

Hiatus hernia is a type of diaphragmatic hernia. There are various types of diaphragmatic hernias. The term hiatus hernia infers to herniation through the esophageal hiatus. Diaphragm is the partition between the chest and the abdominal cavities. It contains many hiatus. A hiatus is nothing but an opening. A hernia is a protrusion of an organ or structure in to an opening or pouch. So this implies that a hiatus hernia is the protrusion of an organ through an opening. The hiatus is the esophageal hiatus and the organ that protrudes is the stomach. Read the rest of this entry »

The contribution of hiatal hernia to GERD has always been a controversial topic. Opinions keep shifting widely. On one end, physicians virtually equated hiatal hernia with the reflux disease. On the other end, the causal role of hiatal hernia in GERD is completely denied. But still the data collected from various parts of the world confirm the role of hiatal hernia in the causation of GERD.

It has been found that hiatus hernia has a more important relationship in patients, who have developed complications of GERD like severe esophagitis, stricture of the esophagus and Barrett’s esophagus. It has been estimated that hiatal hernia occurs in more than 50% of the patients with esophagitis. This incidence of hiatal hernia is much more than the healthy population confirming the association of hiatal hernia with esophagitis.

There are several mechanisms that are said to be responsible for the occurrence of reflux in patients with hiatal hernia. Hiatal hernia distorts the lower esophageal sphincter. This sphincter is very important in preventing the reflux and distortion of it by the hernia affects this preventive mechanism. The reflux is worse especially in those in whom the hernia remains above the diaphragm between swallows. Read the rest of this entry »