Female with right groin pain, finally ultrasound – Hernia Talk

drtowfigh

Moderator
November 18, 2015 at 4:34 am

Female with right groin pain, finally ultrasound

Thanks for reaching out on this site. It is exactly what we are here for. Is like to hear what other surgeons have to say, but here are my two cents about it (and there are varying thoughts about this question so there is no one true answer):

1. Congrats. You now have a diagnosis
2. Most small female inguinal hernias are not “dangerous,” that is, the risk of intestinal involvement is low because the hernia is small and plugged with fat. Thus, repair is not urgent and I typically recommend repair if there is pain that affects daily life. Otherwise, it is usually safe to delay repair as long as the patient wishes. The only exception is for femoral hernias. Those must be repaired.
3. The type of repair that is best is the one that your surgeon is best at doing, most comfortable to offer, and so on. Open inguinal hernia repair with mesh is standard and the most commonly performed type of inguinal hernia repair. My personal preference for women, especially those of normal to low weight, is laparoscopic repair with mesh or open repair without mesh. Women as a whole have been shown to have more mesh-related pain with open repair with mesh, though the data is not concrete.

That is my take on it. I tailor the repair to what are the needs of the patient.