What is the protocol for inguinal hernia surgery in adolescents

  Juvenile hernia is defined here as a hernia before marriage and childbirth, including infancy, adolescence, and the post-adolescent years.  In the case of inguinal hernia in infants and children, surgery is usually considered after the age of 2. Before the age of 2, some small hernia sacs may heal on their own, but it is important to note that if the child is crying and upset, there may be a small intestinal hernia that needs to be treated urgently at the hospital. If the hernia sac disappears on its own after the child is quiet, emergency surgery is often not necessary, and the risk of anesthesia decreases after the age of 2 years, and surgery should be performed no later than before the child starts kindergarten. The main reason for this is that after the child starts kindergarten, the child’s different behavior from other children may affect the psychological development, and the risk of recurrence after simple ligation increases gradually as the hernia ring becomes larger after the age of 6 or 7. The surgical approach is based on small incisional hernia sac high ligation, and children will grow and develop further in the future, and most of them will not need patch repair when their tissues are strong. Laparoscopic surgery may also be considered in children with better family conditions.  After the age of 10, adolescents are a bit embarrassed because they are developing, and surgery is needed to repair abdominal wall defects without damaging or affecting the spermatic cord and vas deferens, so both adult and pediatric surgical options are inappropriate for adolescents. Traditional tension repair surgery is generally associated with postoperative pain, disruption of the adolescent’s activities and physical activity, and a higher recurrence rate. In recent years, more and more surgeons have started to use biologic patches for tension-free repair, which avoid pain and do not affect activity, and unlike synthetic patches, biologic patches do not affect further development and have fewer sequelae, such as fertility and infection, but they are more expensive.  The procedure for adult hernia (18 years of age is the standard for adults) is a tension-free repair using a patch. The specific surgical procedure depends on the doctor’s experience and the parents’ decision.