48 Hours to Under The Knife : Hernia Facts :

Kramer · #1 07-08-2007, 06:06 PM

Hernias occur when one part of the body protrudes through a gap or opening into another part. And although a hernia can theoretically develop almost anywhere, most are in the abdominal area.

This includes hiatal hernias — also known as diaphragmatic hernias — which form at the opening in your diaphragm where your food pipe joins your stomach.

Most small hiatal hernias don't cause any problems, and you may never know you have a hiatal hernia unless your doctor discovers it when checking for another condition. But a large hiatal hernia can allow food and acid to back up into your esophagus, leading to heartburn and chest pain. Self-care measures or medications can usually alleviate these symptoms, although very large hiatal hernias sometimes need surgical repair

Signs and symptoms:

Most small hiatal hernias cause no problems. But larger hernias may cause heartburn, belching or chest pain when stomach acids back up into your food pipe (esophagus).

These signs and symptoms tend to become worse when you lean forward, strain, lift heavy objects or lie down, In rare cases, the part of your stomach that protrudes into your chest cavity may become twisted (strangulated) or have its blood supply cut off, leading to:

Severe chest pain
Difficulty swallowing (dysphagia)
Obstruction of your esophagus

Inguinal hernias account for the majority of all hernias and are more common in men than women--
about 25% of men and 2% of women develop an inguinal hernia in their lifetime
There are two types of inguinal hernia. A direct hernia occurs when the intestine passes through the muscle layers of the abdominal wall into the groin. An indirect hernia occurs when the intestine passes through the groin and descends into the scrotum.
Tissue such as intestine can become trapped in the hernia (incarcerated hernia). When blood flow is restricted, it is called a strangulated hernia. If blood flow is restricted or the intestine is blocked, emergency surgery is necessary

HERNIA
A hernia is the protrusion of an organ (small bowel, large bowel, ovary, etc..) through a weakness in the abdominal wall. This weakness can be congenital (umbilical hernias, epigastric, inguinal hernias) or acquired (some inguinal hernias), and following abdominal operations

The surgical techniques available for the treatment of hernia are classed in three groups:
1. The pure tissue repairs (Shouldice operation);
2. The Tension-free repairs (Lichtenstein, Gilbert, Rutkow);
3. The laproscopic techniques.
THE SHOULDICE OPERATION
This pure tissue technique was introduced in 1945 by Dr. E.E. Shouldice. Since then, the operation has proved to be the most reliable, safe and cost-effective technique. The operation is carried out under local anaesthesia, contributing to the exceptional safety of the operation. Just as important as the technique is the fact that a team of 12 surgeons have devoted all their time and resources exclusively to the practice of hernia surgery. Shouldice Hospital surgeons will each perform from 400 to 700 operations a year, providing a sixth valuable sense in the recognition and handling of all the problems that surround hernia pathology. The Shouldice Team of Surgeons have performed more than 300,000 operations.

How long does the surgery take?
Most primary hernia repairs take an average of 45 minutes.

The trained team of Shouldice Hospital surgeons have repaired more than 300,000 hernias with a greater than 99% success rate

For over a decade professors at Harvard Business School have been teaching the merits of focus in business to their MBA and EMBA students.

Harvard's concept of the "Focused Factory", a business that concentrates on the practice to perfection of one clearly defined process, is so well regarded that over 75 of the worlds leading business schools have adopted it in their own teachings.

The philosophy is capsulized and highlighted in a service oriented case study about written by Harvard professor James Heskett and Mr. Alan O'Dell, the managing Director of Shouldice

WHY THE THUMBS UP BEFORE AN OPERATION ?

I figure I have no control over the situation ,
and where I'm going with a 99% success rate ,
ITS ALL GOOD !

GIDDY UP ...

Ron Mexico · #2 07-08-2007, 06:30 PM

I had a double hernia about 12 years ago. Mine was a "sports" hernia, mostly caused by twisting and lifting. For two weeks don't plan on moving around much!!! HURTS LIKE A MOTHER F*CKER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good luck to ya!!!!