Exerpt from USC Health Magazine about "hernias"
Considering all the frightening illnesses and disorders that grab headlines each year, it is unsurprising that hernias receive little attention.
But more than half a million Americans get a hernia operation each year because, if left untreated, it can be life-threatening.
Namir Katkhouda, M.D., director of the USC Minimally Invasive Surgery program, warns, "Hernias cannot heal themselves and must be cured surgically-and the sooner, the better.
"The big risk of every hernia is strangulation of intra-abdominal organs, especially the small intestine. It can cause a potentially fatal bowel obstruction requiring emergency surgery."
Although a hernia may be small at the beginning, it will get larger over time, transforming what could have been a simple operation into a more complicated one.
"Some people are afraid of surgery. But when a hernia is diagnosed early, the surgery takes an average of 30 to 45 minutes and most people are back to work in two weeks or less," he says.
Hernias, which can be congenital or the result of strenuous activity such as weight-lifting, appear when internal organs or tissue push through a weakened area of the abdominal wall. The resulting bulge is not only a cosmetic problem, but often quite painful as well.
Hernias occur in men three times more often than in women, but can affect people of any age, even in newborns. Most hernias occur in the lower abdomen or groin, although they can affect the stomach and other parts of the abdomen.
Repairing the abdominal wall defect consists of suturing the hole in the abdominal wall or closing the hole with a special mesh that supports the growth of new abdominal wall tissue.
Both treatments cure the condition permanently in 97 percent of all patients.
The procedure can be performed either through a three-inch incision or laparoscopically-a new technique that enables surgeons to perform the procedure using special instruments inserted through tiny openings in the skin, while monitoring the operation on a television screen.n
"The big risk of every hernia is strangulation of intra-abdominal organs, especially the small intestine. It can cause a potentially fatal bowel obstruction requiring emergency surgery."
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Last Modified July 2005