Background: Hernias constitute an important public health problem and often pose a surgical dilemma even for the most skilled surgeons. They are a leading cause of work loss and disability and are sometimes lethal. An early diagnosis and referral to the surgeon should mean short waiting time, elective surgery and a better prognosis. Objectives: 1) To know the incidence of inguinal encountered i...

The relationship between hiatal hernias and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) has been greatly debated over the past decades, with the importance of hiatal hernias first being overemphasized and then later being nearly neglected. It is now understood that both the anatomical (hiatal hernia) and the physiological (lower esophageal sphincter) features of the gastroesophageal junction play im...

Herniorrhaphy is one of the most commonly performed operations in all of surgery. Worldwide, some 20 million groin hernia repairs are accomplished each year.1 In the United States, over 1,000,000 herniorrhaphies are performed each year, of which 750,000 are for inguinal hernias, 166,000 for umbilical hernias, 97,000 for incisional hernias, 25,000 for femoral hernias, and 76,000 for miscellaneou...

p i c b m rimary epigastric hernias are unusual. They are hernias of the linea alba between the xyphoid process nd the umbilicus. The incidence of these hernias has een reported to be between 1% and 10%, but because any of them are asymptomatic, and therefore unrecogized, the true incidence may be higher. There is predomnance in men over women by a factor of three. In one fifth f patients, mult...

A 77 year old woman who presented with an incarcerated hernia of Morgagni was successfully treated without complications. A Medline search (1996 to date) along with cross referencing was done to quantify the number of acute presentations in adults compared to children. Different investigating modalities--for example, lateral chest and abdominal radiography, contrast studies or, in difficult cas...

A hernia is the protrusion of an organ, such as the bowel, through the wall of the cavity in which it normally resides. Paediatric hernias are common developmental abnormalities which have different management from their adult equivalents. Conducting research in the management of paediatric hernias is challenging because of ethical considerations and variations in treatment practice. This artic...

Internal hernias are a rare cause of intestinal obstruction. Paraduodenal hernias are the most common type of internal hernias. Although small bowel obstruction is associated with internal hernias, large bowel obstruction is unique. The authors here report a case of left para duodenal hernia with simultaneous small and large bowel obstruction and gangrene. The patient underwent emergency laparo...

Umbilical hernias occur frequently among patients with cirrhosis and ascites. Common complications include incarceration, leakage, and rupture. Two patients experienced umbilical hernia incarceration while undergoing medical therapy of their massive ascites--a complication not previously described. Decompression of ascites apparently causes decreased tension on the umbilical hernia ring with su...

BACKGROUND Hernia surgery is one of the most frequent procedures done by surgeons - paediatric and general surgeons -in the African continent. OBJECTIVE To review the surgical literature, on the epidemiology, clinical features, treatment and outcome of inguinal hernia surgery in Africa. DATA SOURCE The search terms used were groin hernias in Africa, hernia surgery in Africa, inguinal hernia...

Umbilical and epigastric hernias are occasionally seen in patients with groin hernias, however, there is almost no published evidence about their simultaneous repair. In a 3-year period, 10 patients were subjected to simultaneous repair of groin hernias (7 unilateral, 2 bilateral inguinal and 1 femoral) and ventral hernias (7 primary, 2 recurrent umbilical and 1 epigastric) with local infiltrat...