Sunday, May 20, 2018

By Arthur Wright


A hernia is simply an external protrusion of internal structures as a result of a defect in the muscular wall of a body cavity. It comprises a sac and its contents together with a neck. In most instances, hernia sac contents are intestines. They could also be other soft tissue structures and organs. These are some of the facts on hernia Valley Stream NY patients may find useful.

These protrusions can be classified based on different factors. For instance, they can be reducible or irreducible. Reducible hernias are more prominent when the patient coughs and when they are standing. They, however, retract when one lies down or manual reduction is attempted. Irreducible hernias, on the other hand, show neither spontaneous nor manual reduction. These are more dangerous because they can easily get twisted and interfere with circulation.

Twisting may lead to a phenomenon known as strangulation. This means that the contents in the sac are receiving very little or no blood supply at all. This is bad for the patient because it is very painful and the affected tissues could die. It, therefore, needs to be detected in time and the tissues at risk salvaged. A patient is more predisposed to strangulation if their hernia is irreducible and has a limited neck.

Closely related to strangulated hernias are obstructed hernias. In the obstructed type, the intestines therein literally get blocked. The patient will have various signs and symptoms that include vomiting, abdominal distention and inability to pass stool. In the long run, late or lack of intervention can cause parts of the bowel to die.

Based on their location, hernias can be categorized as inguinal, femoral, diaphragmatic and umbilical. Statistically, inguinal and femoral hernias, both of which occur in the groin, are more encountered compared to all the others. Femoral ones are especially common among females. Inguinal hernias can be said to be either direct or indirect.

Increased abdominal pressure due to one reason or the other contributes to weakening of the abdominal muscular wall and hence a tendency of organs to bulge through. This may occur when one strains every time they pass stool because of constipation from low fiber diet, when they use some drugs or due to dehydration. People with lower urinary tract obstruction also tend to strain during urination and are therefore also predisposed to developing this problem. Cigarette smoking, weight lifting, obesity and pregnancy are also part of this list.

Some hernias happen as a result of a familial form of connective tissue disorder. In this case, children are born with an already weakened abdominal wall. The most common form that occurs in this situation is the umbilical type. The good news about this kind is that most of them heal spontaneously over a number of years.

Treatment of a hernia is technically referred to as herniorrhaphy. It involves opening up the sac and returning the contents back to the abdominal cavity. The defect is then repaired using a mesh to increase surface area and to provide a more concrete support. The mesh also reduces the risk of recurrence. This procedure can be done using either the open or laparoscopic approach under general anaesthesia. Although the laparoscopic approach has a higher learning curve, it has more long term advantages compared to open surgery.




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