»Show Emergency Conditions
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It is important to seek medical advice about hernia symptoms before they progress to emergency conditions.
Incarceration of the Bowel: A portion of the intestine is trapped in the hernia sac. This may block your digestive system or damage internal organs and could progress to strangulation. Seek medical treatment immediately.
Signs to watch for:
- A bulge that cannot be pushed back
- Severe pain
- Bloating of abdomen
- Tenderness at site
- Nausea or vomiting
Strangulation of the Bowel: A portion of the intestine is tightly trapped by the hernia, reducing or entirely cutting off the blood supply. This can quickly cause the tissue to die. Seek medical treatment immediately.
Signs to watch for:
- A bulge that cannot be pushed back in
- Sudden increase in severe pain
- Bloating of abdomen
- Intense tenderness at site
- Fever
- Nausea or vomiting
- Lack of bowel movements
- Inability to pass gas
Herniorrhaphy
The basic steps in herniorrhaphy are to open the hernia sac (the intestines or tissue are inside the stretched peritoneum), place the intestine or tissue back in place, remove excess tissue and close the sac. Next the muscle layer is repaired, and usually reinforced with a mesh or graft. These repairs can be made by open or laparoscopic surgery.
Herniorrhaphy: Tension vs. Tension-Free Repair
A tension repair closes the hernia by pulling together the patient’s tissue and suturing. This method places the tissue under strain, causing pain and higher recurrence rates than with tension-free repair. A tension-free hernia repair uses a tissue repair material (often called a mesh or a graft) to reinforce the damaged tissue.
There are three main categories of tissue repair materials:
- Biodesign: Biodesign Advanced Tissue Repair Products are a whole new category in tissue repair, combining the best attributes of synthetic mesh and biologic grafts. Biodesign is a natural material that communicates with the surrounding tissue to help your body restore itself, completely remodeling into functional tissue. The remodeling process also increases the graft’s resistance to infection. And, because Biodesign is not prone to stretching and your own tissue quickly replaces it, a Biodesign repair provides long-term strength, reducing the potential for the hernia to recur. Biodesign is available in a variety of shapes and sizes designed to treat various types of hernias.
- Synthetic Mesh: These are sheets of man-made materials (polypropylene, polyester, silicone or polytetrafluoroethylene) that permanently remain in your body. While they offer strength for a repair, they may cause problems. For example:
- You might be able to feel the mesh in your abdomen, causing discomfort.
- Synthetic mesh can erode into surrounding tissue or organs, resulting in pain and tissue damage.
- Your body might respond to synthetic mesh as a foreign material and surround it with scar tissue.
- Biologic Grafts: Derived from human or animal tissue, biologic grafts typically allow cells to grow into the graft and replace it—a process called remodeling. Some biologic grafts are made from skin tissue, which makes them prone to stretching and bulging. Other biologic grafts are chemically cross-linked to strengthen the material. However, when these grafts are implanted, your body may respond to them as if they were a synthetic mesh.
