A hernia is a muscle defect or gap in the abdominal wall which causes part of your gut to bulge out creating a lump. This lump can usually be felt and may result in pain and discomfort, affect quality of life, and sometimes may require emergency surgery. There are different types of hernias and they can occur for example in the groin, at or near the belly button, or at the site of scars from previous surgery.
If the lump is detected early, it is best to get this assessed by a general surgeon who will likely recommend surgical repair as soon as possible. Sometimes, the surgeon may recommend further tests such as scans to confirm the precise site and contents of the hernia.
Hernia surgery is usually very straight forward.
Surgeons can repair hernias in the traditional way using an open cut which works very well, but nowadays, the preference is to repair the hernia using keyhole surgery if possible and appropriate.
The benefits of keyhole surgery for hernia repair is that the scars are smaller, pain and discomfort is usually less, and there is generally a quicker recovery and earlier return to work.
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