What to do if a baby boy has hernia? There are some tips for treating hernia in children

Hernia is a condition that occurs in many children and is mostly caused by an imbalance in the body. Hernia has a certain impact on the growth and development of children. If parents find that their children have hernia, they should go to the hospital for diagnosis and treatment as soon as possible.

1: Pediatric hernia is one of the common diseases in pediatric surgery. The main clinical manifestation is a reducible mass in the groin area shortly after the child is born. Most of them appear at 2 to 3 months old, but some may occur as late as 1 to 2 years old. The general incidence of hernia in children is 1-4%. The incidence in males is 10 times that in females and is even higher in premature infants. It may occur on both sides.

2: Hernias in children may occur days, months or years after birth. Usually when a child is crying, exercising vigorously, or has dry stools, there will be a protruding lump in the groin, which sometimes extends to the scrotum or labia area; it will disappear on its own when the child lies flat or is pressed with the hands. Once the hernia becomes incarcerated (the hernia mass cannot be reduced), abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, fever, anorexia, or crying and irritability will occur.

1: In the early stages of pediatric hernia, the swelling may disappear when the child lies flat and quiet; as the intra-abdominal pressure continues to increase, the swelling may drop into the scrotum. At this time, if the factors causing increased intra-abdominal pressure can be eliminated, and the child can be made to lie flat, or the swelling can be gently pushed toward the abdominal cavity, the swelling can return to the abdominal cavity through the channel through which the testicle descends, and the swelling disappears. This situation is called reducible hernia.

2: If the tumor cannot be returned to the abdominal cavity, abdominal pain will intensify, crying will continue, and then vomiting, abdominal distension, difficulty defecation and other intestinal obstruction symptoms will appear. An oval tumor can be seen in the groin or scrotum, with a hard texture and obvious tenderness. If the intestine is incarcerated for a long time, redness and swelling can be seen on the skin. If the intestine cannot be returned for a long time, serious complications such as intestinal ischemia and necrosis may occur.

3: Medically speaking, what people usually call pediatric hernia mainly refers to congenital indirect hernia. Because boys' testicles descend to the scrotum through the inguinal canal before birth, the peritoneum moves downward to form the processus vaginalis. If the processus vaginalis has not closed after the baby is born, or has closed incompletely, it will become a larger cavity, and the contents of the abdominal cavity will protrude to the body surface, forming a hernia. Because the right testicle descends slightly later than the left and the processus vaginalis is closed later, there are more cases of right inguinal hernias. Of course, girls may also develop hernias due to weak abdominal walls, but the incidence rate is relatively low.

4: As you age, the hernia will become larger and larger. If it can be reduced in time, it is not a big problem. However, if the hernia appears when you exert a little force or even stand, it will often affect your normal life. It may also lead to incarcerated hernia and strangulated hernia. When a child cries violently or suddenly exerts force, the intra-abdominal pressure suddenly increases, the abdominal intestinal tube protrudes too much, and the hernia sac neck is often rubbed, making it impossible for the hernia contents to be returned. The child should go to the hospital for diagnosis and treatment immediately. If the incarceration lasts too long, serious complications such as intestinal necrosis may occur, and emergency surgery at this time will be much more risky.

If an incarcerated hernia is stuck and cannot be reduced, causing severe abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, fever, etc., effective measures should be taken immediately to reduce it and receive treatment as soon as possible. Therefore, when parents find that their children have hernia, they should immediately take the children to a regular hospital for treatment. If the hernia gradually increases in size or there is a history of incarceration, they should seize the time and receive thorough treatment as soon as possible.