“How serious is abdominal hernia surgery?”
I am a 35 year old male. I want to know how serious is abdominal hernia surgery?
4 Answers
Depends on the size of the hernia, how many times it’s repaired before, and how it is approached. Small hernia occurring for the first time is least invasive and a large recurrent hernia which requires an open approach is the most invasive.
Sorry for the delay in reply.
The answer to your question is with all things in surgery dependent on context
What kind of hernia are you getting fixed and what approach should you take
a. In general the most common type of hernias are inguinal (groin hernias) which affect men 75% of the time and women 25% of the time.
In this day and age, inguinal hernia repair is quite common and the risks of complications should be very very low. The preferred approach to fixing inguinal hernias is laparoscopically and with mesh. The reason for laparoscopic/robotic is that the recovery time is much shorter than an open incision (2 weeks versus 4-6 weeks) and less discomfort but should be performed by a surgeon who does laparoscopic hernia repair as a routine. The mesh is necessary to reduce the risk of the hernia coming back. In open and laparoscopic/robotic repairs of hernias without mesh, the recurrence rates (rate of it coming back) is around 15% without the use of mesh and 2-4% with the use of mesh. There are some reasons a laparoscopic repair is not attempted and open repair is preferred such as the hernia being one that has been fixed multiple times, is very large, or is in a person who is obese. In general the risk of mesh infection is also very low in inguinal hernia repair.
b. The other common types of hernias are ventral (or incisional) hernias. These are hernias which are along the abdominal wall, usually in the front wall that happen because of natural weakness in the abdominal wall (less common) or from prior surgeries (more common). The approaches to these also are either open or laparoscopic/robotic. As these hernias are more varied in size, location, and need for mesh, the risk of complications is a bit higher than in inguinal hernias and the use of mesh which reduces hernia recurrence is counterbalanced by an increased risk of infection at the wound sites.
c. Hernia repair should be at your age, assuming you are healthy a very safe procedure.
The answer to your question is with all things in surgery dependent on context
What kind of hernia are you getting fixed and what approach should you take
a. In general the most common type of hernias are inguinal (groin hernias) which affect men 75% of the time and women 25% of the time.
In this day and age, inguinal hernia repair is quite common and the risks of complications should be very very low. The preferred approach to fixing inguinal hernias is laparoscopically and with mesh. The reason for laparoscopic/robotic is that the recovery time is much shorter than an open incision (2 weeks versus 4-6 weeks) and less discomfort but should be performed by a surgeon who does laparoscopic hernia repair as a routine. The mesh is necessary to reduce the risk of the hernia coming back. In open and laparoscopic/robotic repairs of hernias without mesh, the recurrence rates (rate of it coming back) is around 15% without the use of mesh and 2-4% with the use of mesh. There are some reasons a laparoscopic repair is not attempted and open repair is preferred such as the hernia being one that has been fixed multiple times, is very large, or is in a person who is obese. In general the risk of mesh infection is also very low in inguinal hernia repair.
b. The other common types of hernias are ventral (or incisional) hernias. These are hernias which are along the abdominal wall, usually in the front wall that happen because of natural weakness in the abdominal wall (less common) or from prior surgeries (more common). The approaches to these also are either open or laparoscopic/robotic. As these hernias are more varied in size, location, and need for mesh, the risk of complications is a bit higher than in inguinal hernias and the use of mesh which reduces hernia recurrence is counterbalanced by an increased risk of infection at the wound sites.
c. Hernia repair should be at your age, assuming you are healthy a very safe procedure.
All Surgeries are serious. The anesthesia causes many issues.
A lot of it depends on the size of your hernia. Many times, a simple umbilical (belly button) hernia can be repaired with sutures alone, takes about 30 minutes, and you go home the same day. Larger hernias may require placement of mesh and be inpatient procedures. Some patients with large complicated hernias may require an abdominal wall reconstruction which may take 4-6 hours, require a prolonged hospital stay, and has a recovery time of several months.
