Inguinal hernia is a common disease in the elderly, with a prevalence of 11.3 per 1,000 people over 60 years of age. It can be said that inguinal hernia is a disease that is prevalent in an elderly population in our country. So, what is a hernia? In particular, what is an inguinal hernia? In layman’s terms, a hernia is a break in the abdominal wall, through which the intestinal canal in the human body protrudes outward from the Ministry of Health Beijing Hospital, bulging up a bag or even protruding into the scrotum. Hernias occur most often in the abdomen, and inguinal hernias are the most common, accounting for more than 90% of all extra-abdominal hernias. Why are older people prone to inguinal hernias? Because elderly people are prone to inguinal hernias because of the weakness of the abdominal wall muscles, coupled with the fact that they tend to have chronic cough, prostate hypertrophy, chronic constipation and other diseases. What are the dangers of a hernia? Crushing and hidden pain in the inguinal region is a common discomfort. If left untreated, the hernia may gradually increase in size and affect daily life, and sometimes the small intestine may fall into the hernia sac and become entrapped, which can be complicated by acute abdominal pain, intestinal obstruction, intestinal necrosis and other serious consequences. At present, many people have misconceptions about the treatment of inguinal hernia, believing that it does not affect life, so they think it can be treated or not. The elderly are especially reluctant to undergo surgery for fear of pain, anesthesia, etc. However, once the inguinal hernia fails to retract, it can lead to intestinal obstruction and even intestinal necrosis and perforation, which can be life-threatening, with a mortality rate of about 15%. The harm of non-surgical treatments Especially some patients’ children, who know about the disease, may seek some so-called non-surgical treatments, such as “hernia belt” and “some kind of injection therapy”, which, on the contrary, aggravate the disease, make the operation more difficult, and even, the injection causes disability and The intestinal canal is necrotic. Therefore, once again, the only treatment for hernia is surgery. Concerns of the elderly? The elderly often have a variety of concomitant diseases, such as diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, pulmonary heart disease and Alzheimer’s disease. These diseases not only pose a threat to the health of the elderly, but also, and more importantly, pose serious difficulties and risks in the treatment of hernias. Therefore, patients with inguinal hernia, especially the elderly, should be operated actively and not wait until the disease is serious before surgery, because early surgery is relatively easy and shorter, and the surgery can be performed with local anesthesia which is less traumatic, less painful and faster recovery. What should I do when I get older? Some patients, often reaching the age of 80, or 90, come for surgery only when the hernia is severe. At this point, there are added concerns for both the surgeon and the patient themselves and their family. Is surgery safe for elderly patients? It is true that elderly patients have increased surgical risk compared to younger patients. However, with strict preoperative preparation, careful surgical operation, and postoperative care, elderly patients can also pass the surgery safely and achieve a healing result. In the past year, I have performed more than 10 cases of elderly patients, 4-5 of them were over 90 years old and the highest was 95 years old. How to ensure the safety of surgery for senior patients? From our experience in operating on elderly patients, the following points are important: Maintain the patient in optimal condition and avoid acute illness, including upper respiratory tract infections. Maintain normal blood pressure levels. Control diabetes mellitus. Use appropriate anesthesia, or local anesthesia. Operate skillfully and smoothly. Close postoperative observation. Postoperative observation The most important things to control in elderly patients after surgery are pain, heart failure and infection, especially lung infection is the most threatening to elderly patients after surgery, which not only causes recurrence of hernia, but also can lead to death. Choosing appropriate antibiotics, strengthening deep breathing exercises and back patting to expel sputum, and keeping warm appropriately can assist elderly patients to pass the operation period safely.