If you are reading this I assume you have already read the page on which I have explained "What is a hernia?". If you have, that is fine. If you haven't - you might want to click on the link to go back and read it. Or else just read on - suit yourself.



A Hernia requires an operation to repair it. It cannot be "healed" by "some medicine"  any more than you can "heal" a hole in a bucket by pouring something into the bucket. A hole in a bucket, like a hernia, which is a hole in the body, can only be repaired by closing or patching that hole in some manner. Until about 20 years ago, most hernias were repaired with stitches. But this strategy led to a fairly large number of recurrences requiring a repeat operation. Ever since synthetic medical grade mesh became widely available at affordable rates, hernias have been effectively and safely repaired using a patch of mesh implanted permanentlly into the body in order to safely seal off the hole leading to the hernia. Most hernias require to be sealed with mesh and a hernia operation involves the implantation of a suitably shaped piece of mesh into the body. The mesh is usually placed over the hole and stitched into place, or a large mesh is placed behind the hole, between the thin inner sac and thick outer coat of  muscle.

The only question is how that mesh is placed  to seal or reinforce the hole or weakness. There are two ways of doing this:
1) Laparoscopic Hernia repair               ----  (CHECK WHICH IS BETTER FOR YOU)
2) Conventional (Open) Hernia repair   ----  (CHECK WHICH IS BETTER FOR YOU)

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LAPAROSCOPIC HERNIA REPAIR:

Laparoscopic surgery itself is a relatively new advancement in surgery, which has come up in the last two decades of the twentieth century. You can read about it here. Laparoscopic hernia repair is an operatioon that has been done for less than twenty years. In a laparoscopic hernia repair the opening that has caused the hernia is seen using keyhole surgery and a mesh is placed to cover the hole.  The photograph on the right shows a rolled-up mesh that has been introduced through a narrow tube into the body at laparoscopic surgery. The mesh will be unrolled and placed to cover the hole or weakness that caused the hernia. The incisons used in Laparoscopic Hernia repairs are usually two or three 10 millimeter (or smaller) punctures.

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CONVENTIONAL (OPEN) HERNIA REPAIR:

Conventional open surgery for Hernia needs a 7.5 to 10 centimeter (3 to 4 inch) long cut. The operation itself has been done by surgeons for over a century, but the art of putting in a mesh to make a strong repair is only about thirty years old. The hole that is causing the hernia is exposed and mesh placed suitable to cover, or underlie the hole so as to seal it. The Photograph on the right shows a mesh that has been placed at open surgery. Visible near the upper edge of the mesh are the blue stitches that hold the mesh in place.

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