Inguinal Hernia

Inguinal Hernia

Signs and Symptoms
Diagnosis
Treatment

Treatment

Inguinal hernias do not go away without treatment. If the sac is left open, a loop of bowel or other organ may be trapped -- what we call strangulated -- in the sac. This is called an incarcerated hernia. Once the organ is stuck, it can swell and compress the blood supply that is pulled along with it. Without enough blood, the organ can be damaged or die. If your child has an incarcerated hernia, he or she may have a hard, red, painful lump; may vomit; may be unwilling to eat and may stop passing stool. If this occurs, your child will need emergency care.

Your child should be taken to your pediatrician's office or, after hours, to the local emergency room. If the hernia can't be pushed back into the abdominal cavity, your child will need immediate surgery.

The hernia surgery takes about one hour. Your child will be put to sleep for the entire operation and will feel nothing during surgery. All or part of the sac that comes through the inguinal ring will be removed and the opening will be closed. In children less than 1 year of age, there can be an open sac on the other side that could become a hernia later, so your child's surgeon may use a tiny telescope to look for it and close it. This is called the "LOOC" procedure. The stitches are all under the skin and will dissolve on their own but your child's skin will be covered with small bandages. There is very little blood loss in hernia surgery -- about one to two teaspoons -- so no blood is reserved for the operation. Your child will receive blood during this surgery only in the case of extreme emergency.

For more information about inguinal hernia surgery in infants, see our Parent Information Sheet.

Reviewed by health care specialists at UCSF Children's Hospital.
Last updated May 8, 2007