Advertisement


Do you suffer from chronic pain?
Learn how straightening up can ease your pain
Chronic pain management tips


More DailyStrength
Health Event Calendar
See what's new on the site
Step-by-step Tutorials
How to use DailyStrength
We're on Facebook
Check out our page
Follow us on Twitter
Read our tweets
Get Cool DS Stuff
Shirts, Hats, Baby Wear

Hiatal Hernia Information

  • Hiatus hernia or hiatal hernia is the protrusion (or hernia) of the upper part of the stomach into the thorax through a tear or weakness in the diaphragm. The symptoms include acid reflux, pains, similar to heartburn, in the chest and upper stomach. In most cases, sufferers experience no discomfort and no treatement is required...
  • Where severe and chronic acid reflux is involved, surgery, is sometimes recommended, as chronic reflux can severely injure the esophagus. Persons requiring surgery might experience heartburn or might not perceive any symptoms.

    There are two kinds of Hiatal Hernia: The first (95%) is the sliding hiatal hernia, where the gastroesophageal junction moves above the diaphram together with some of the stomach. The second kind is when a part of the stomach herniates through the hiatus beside, and without movement of, the gastroesophageal junction.

    A Nissen fundoplication is performed laparoscopically; however, this can have both severe and minor side-effects. Minor side-effects of this procedure include increased production of stomach and intestinal gas, and chronic nausea; major ones include permanent severe discomfort when eating and passing food into the stomach, inability to vomit or belch normally, and limited stomach capacity.

    Symptoms depend greatly on individual anatomy and surgical technique, but due to the severe degree of potential discomfort in some cases, surgery is only recommended as a last resort if medication therapy is ineffective or impractical. Traditionally, surgery was recommended as a primary solution, but a statistical increase in complications and severe discomfort levels among patients, resulting from the high volume of procedures performed, has led to a radical change of practice and attitiude.

    Symptomatic patients should be told to elevate the head of their beds and avoid lying down directly after meals. If overweight, weight loss is indicated. Medications that lower the LES pressure should be avoided. Antisecretory drugs like proton pump inhibitors and H2-receptor blockers can be used to reduce acid secretion. Endoscopic plication or radiofrequency energy delivery to the LES may be considered. Surgery should be considered if these modalities don't work. Surgery usually consists of Nissen fundoplication, which usually is successful in eradicating symptoms.

  • Click to expand

Health Blogs

Proton pump inhibitors like omeprazole, pantoprazole, nexium, and aciphex among others are commonly prescribed and work very well for heartburn and reflux symptoms. Regular use of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) is associated with an increased risk of hip fractures according to new findings from the Nurses’ Health Study. The risk of hip ... Read More »
Windshield Wiper Water Causes Legionnaires’ Disease - Use Wiper Fluid Instead Using regular water instead of windshield wiper fluid can create an environment where the Legionella bacterium can develop. Researchers in England and Wales studied why long distance drivers were more frequently developing Legionnaires' disease. ... Read More »

1) Demerol: I'll never forget a lecture I attended as a resident by a well known toxicologist who said Demerol should be pulled from the market...that it doesn't work any better than any other pain medication and patients love the high it gives them. The American Pain Society said in 2003 that Demerol has no role in acute pain ... Read More »

Member Photos

Advertisement

Latest Activity