A hernia is a catchall term for any tissue that bulges out of the cavity that contains it, often through a weak spot. This occurrence is extremely common — hiatal hernias, for example, have an estimated prevalence of 15% to 20% of the general population. And prevalence is tied to age: 50% of people over age 50 have a hiatal hernia, 60% of people over age 60, and so on.
If you’ve been diagnosed with a hiatal hernia and you’re wondering whether hernia surgery is in your future, the short answer is maybe.
For the longer answer, our team of general surgeons at Rockwall Surgical Specialists presents the following information.
If you have a hiatal hernia, it means that the top of your stomach is bulging through an opening in your diaphragm. Under normal circumstances, your diaphragm acts as a barrier between your abdominal cavity and your chest cavity, so when these lines are blurred, you might experience a variety of issues.
There are different types of hernias, and they dictate whether you experience symptoms as well as how severe they are.
Also called a sliding hiatal hernia, this type accounts for 95% of cases. With a sliding hiatal hernia, the connection point between your stomach and esophagus slides through the hole and back down.
With this type, the upper part of your stomach pushes up next to your esophagus, creating a bulge.
This is a combination of types 1 and 2 hiatal hernias.
This is a rare, but problematic, type of hiatal hernia in which part of your stomach bulges through, as well as another organ from your abdominal cavity, such as your small intestine or your spleen.
While determining which type of hiatal hernia you have can help guide you in your treatment, the real deciding factor is your symptoms. Many people aren’t even aware they have a hiatal hernia as they don’t experience any symptoms, especially with a type 1 hiatal hernia that comes and goes.
When a hiatal hernia does create symptoms, they usually come in the form of:
In most cases, you can manage these symptoms with medications and changes to your diet and eating habits. If your symptoms are severe and they don’t respond to such management efforts, it’s time to consider hiatal hernia surgery.
Surgery is also necessary if the hernia cuts off blood supply to any of your tissues or if you develop bleeding and ulcers due to the condition.
With most hiatal hernia surgeries, we can perform the repair with laparoscopic surgery, a technique in which we only need to make small incisions. We then use a specialized camera and small tools to return your abdominal organ(s) to the right cavity and reinforce the weak spot.
There are different types of hiatal hernia surgeries. If conservative treatments aren’t relieving your symptoms and you believe that your hiatal hernia is problematic, your next step is to make an appointment to see us so we can evaluate the hernia to determine which approach is best.
For a surgical assessment of your hiatal hernia, we invite you to contact Rockwall Surgical Specialists today. Call 972-412-7700 to schedule an appointment at any of our convenient locations — in Rockwall, Rowlett, Greenville, Terrell, and Forney, Texas.
