It’s true that a hernia is not a big deal in a surgical clinic, but it can be fatal and should not be taken lightly! Inguinal hernia, commonly known as small intestine gas! Many people think it is a minor problem, and some people never consider going for treatment because they usually have no obvious discomfort symptoms! Unbeknownst to them, there is a life-threatening danger that accompanies hernia patients all the time, and that is the occurrence of “incarcerated hernia”. An inguinal hernia is a visible subcutaneous mass formed by the protrusion of inguinal organs through a weak spot in the inguinal region, often the protruding organs are the intestinal canal and the greater omentum, which can lead to a painful crushing of the affected area, and the contents can be returned to the abdominal cavity by lying down or pushing by hand. An incarcerated hernia is caused by the contraction of the tissue around the defect (hernia ring), which compresses the resulting protruding intestine and prevents it from returning to the abdominal cavity, resulting in life-threatening ischemic necrosis of the intestine.
In this case, emergency surgery is often required. According to the literature, the incidence of incarcerated hernia can be up to 3% in patients with hernias, and once incarcerated and then treated surgically, 7% of patients lose their lives during the entire perioperative period. The incidence of an incarcerated hernia can occur at any time without warning, and the chances of incarcerated hernia are higher in the following cases: 1. small hernias with painful distention and longer retraction time when the hernia mass is usually protruding. In female hernia patients, the incidence of incarcerated hernia is high because women tend to have femoral hernia, and femoral hernia is prone to acute incarcerations because the tissue around the hernia ring is tougher and less elastic. 3. Patients with a history of incidence of incarcerated hernia also have a higher chance of recurrence of incarcerated hernia. However, it is not safe to say that patients with other conditions of hernias are safe. Ingrown hernia can occur in patients of any age and in any condition. What can be done to avoid the occurrence of an incarcerated hernia? Aggressive treatment of hernias and surgical repair of the defect is the only effective means of treating hernias. Currently, due to improvements in the surgical approach, surgery can be done under general or local anesthesia, and generally only a 2-night stay in the hospital is required after inguinal hernia surgery, with discharge to home early in the morning of the third day. If minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery is chosen, the recovery will be even faster, so the treatment of inguinal hernia without incidence of impaction is indeed not very troublesome. If, for various reasons, surgery is temporarily or completely unavailable, a hernia brace can be worn. Properly worn, the defect can be blocked so that the contents cannot protrude and the possibility of its ingrowth is reduced. However, there are many patients who are lucky and do not treat their hernia for years and do not wear a hernia brace. When an impaction suddenly occurs, the stuck intestine can become ischemic and necrotic in a very short time, and when it comes to the operating table, the surgeon has to remove the necrotic intestine, and in the case of severe inflammatory contamination, the surgeon often cannot make a perfect repair of the hernia defect, resulting in the need for a second operation at a later date to completely solve the hernia problem. A very small hernia becomes so troublesome and life-threatening because of an impaction.