Epigastric Hernia - Symptoms, Causes, Treatment

: Admin : 2022-03-24

•What is it?

'Epigastric Hernia', when broken, gives us two words to go with, i.e. Epigastric, which means region lying upon or over the stomach. And Hernia is defined as bulging of an organ microscopically noted at tissue or cell level.

Combining them leads us to a definition that epigastric Hernia is nothing but Hernia occurring at epigastric region. To be precise, it's noted just below the sternum of the rib cage in layman language; it can also be said to be just above the belly button.

•The Bump:-

In this, a bump or bulging is caused due to accumulation of fat mass above the belly button; now, it is to be clarified beforehand that whenever we talk about any bulging or protrusion, it is subsidised under pathological studies, and it may or may not be visible macroscopically or through naked eyes. In this case, particularly, the 'bump' may be noticed only when sneezing, coughing or laughing.

•Symptoms:-

Although epigastric Hernia doesn't show any symptoms even at higher stages, it might ring you a bell through mild pain in the epigastric region or at the abdominal region in common. These can be more than one, and they can occur to kids just as quickly as adults.

•Causes:-

Now what causes this event has to be adequately understood; root cause includes 'tissues in the abdominal wall don't close completely' although another reason has come to attention past few years that it may be caused due to sudden pressure in the abdominal wall resulting in discomfort in the attachment of epigastric region with that of the diaphragm. It can also be caused under certain physiological conditions such as obesity, pregnancy, heavy lifting, physical labour, intensive training and coughing fits.

•Diagnosis:-

Diagnosis of Epigastric Hernia ranges from physical examination to imaging techniques such as CT scan or ultrasound. The doctor instructs the patient to switch positions whilst pressing their abdomen in physical examination. While examining, the doctor might encounter a case of strangulated hernia, which is caused when there is an inadequate supply of blood, and this condition is considered an emergency.

•Cure:-

Before there is complete tissue damage resulting in pathological errors in your body system, we must talk about the 'cure' of this particular disease.

As discussed earlier, one might not be able to suspect this before it's too late, and due to this, there isn't any primary or oral treatment for it; one has to go through surgery.

•Technique:-

The surgery procedure is something like this - the surgeon will make an incision in the Hernia and insert a laparoscope to illuminate the section to be treated.

Once this is achieved, he may move the hernial sac to its correct position and strengthen the abdominal muscle neighbouring it. If the area causing muscular weakness is small, sutures are applied. While in the case of large areas of muscular weakness, a 'nylon mesh' is stitched to cover the hole. And other sutures are applied to cover the part of the surgical incision.

•Post surgical encounters:-

After surgery, people may feel certain discomfort in their abdominal region which is justified as that part has been under the blade. Swelling and bruising may also be observed. A bulge may be present even after the surgery. This shouldn't be confused with an unsuccessful surgery; this bulge is caused due to sutures.

Adequate care should be taken in sneezing, coughing, crying and bowel movements.

I hope this article gives you a brief and appropriate description of Epigastria Hernia and the cure regarding it.