What to look for when seeking emergency medical attention for a child with a hernia

       Children are often unable to express themselves clearly when they are uncomfortable and usually only show up as crying and difficulty in eating, which is very easy for parents to neglect. If the hernia suddenly increases in size and cannot be returned when the intra-abdominal pressure is suddenly increased by violent crying, coughing, constipation, exercise, etc., and the child cries and even vomits and cannot defecate, an incarcerated hernia has occurred. Simply put, it is like many people squeeze out of a very narrow gate at once, but it is difficult to go back at the same time.  Generally the contents coming out of the hernia opening are abdominal organs, and the small intestine is more common. Long-term continuous jamming will affect the blood supply to the small intestine, and if it is not resolved for a long time, the small intestine may become necrotic, which is often referred to as strangulation has occurred.  Usually when parents realize that an ingrown hernia may have occurred, there may have been a delay of several hours.  Therefore, I do not recommend parents to try to reposition the hernia by themselves once it is found to be embedded, because there are great risks involved in the repositioning process and an emergency room with a pediatric surgical specialty should be consulted immediately.  During the process of finding an incarcerated hernia and seeking medical attention, the child should be put to sleep as much as possible or distracted with toys to make the child as quiet as possible to avoid further aggravation of the incarcerated hernia; moreover, it is better not to give the child milk or food during this process to avoid interfering with the surgery and anesthesia.