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Home › Articles › Newborn and Infant Months › Infant Hernias

Infant Hernias

Exploring the Types and Treatments of Infant Hernias

By Teri Brown

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The last thing a parent wants to see after bringing home their bundle of joy from the hospital is an unexplained bulge protruding from their infant's umbilical cord or genitals. But experts say hernias are quite common, especially in premature babies.

Susan Marie Thompson, mother of four from Clybucca, Australia, had no idea how common they were until her infant son developed one. "Brendan was less than 2 months old when he developed an inguinal hernia on the left side of his genitals," Thompson says. "His intestines were making their way in and out of a hole that had formed when he was in the womb. He was six weeks early and as a result of the hernia, going to the toilet and wind made his life hell. He had surgery three weeks later, after having it brought forward due to the formation of another one [on] the right side."

After a two-hour surgery, Thompson says her son was like a different child: happy with no more physical problems. As the Thompsons discovered, the outcome for most hernias is good.

According to Dr. Edmund Kessler, attending surgeon at Columbia Eastside Medical Center and an assistant professor of surgery at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, the operation to repair a hernia either in vitro or after birth is, barring any complications, simple. If the surgery is performed in vitro, "[t]he healing process is rapid and pain relief is achieved by the administration of a small dose of long-acting local anesthesia by the surgeon into the womb at the time of surgery," Dr. Kessler says. And if the surgery is performed at birth, "[a] small dose of infant analgesia may be required for a day or two post operatively."

What Are Hernias?
A hernia is a general term referring to a protrusion of a tissue through the wall of the cavity in which it is normally contained. More specifically, a hernia often refers to an opening or weakness in the muscular structure of the wall of the abdomen.

There are three different types of hernias commonly found in infants: umbilical hernias, inguinal hernias and congenital diaphragmatic hernias.


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