Most of my General Surgery practice is related to acute issues although there is an element of elective practice. One of the common things I see in the emergency department as well as in the office is a hernia.
There are several varieties of hernias of the abdominal wall such as inguinal hernia which is basically a groin hernia. A ventral hernia is a bulge of tissues in their abdomen. Some people don't go see a doctor for a long time, hoping the hernia will go away. Delaying treatment can potentially lead to very serious complications if the hernia is not addressed in time.
The hernia is a defect in the abdominal wall. The defect is a weakness in the abdominal wall that allows the abdominal contents, sometimes adipose fatty tissue or sometimes organs from the inside of the abdomen, to go through this defect in the abdominal wall. Potentially this tissue can get trapped. Strangulation occurs when the blood supply gets cut off to this tissue. This creates an emergency situation where we have to rush a patient to the operating room.
An emergency is not the ideal situation. I'd rather be able to perform hernia surgery on an elective and calmer basis. This way, patients come in, get a checkup, get a work up and we can talk about the symptoms and come up with a plan what is the best way of treating the hernia.
Hernia surgery may include minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery through small incisions that leaves minimal scars. People get back to work very quickly. We can repair a hernia with a piece of mesh made of either synthetic or biological material that reinforces the area and provides a lot more strength and potentially decreases the possibility of this hernia coming back in the future.
These repair options will not work for everybody so I like to see patients in the clinic and discuss the benefits and alternatives of the treatments. Chances are I will probably draw a patient a picture describing what the issue is and will also address each patient individually and figure out what works best for them.
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