Inguinal Hernia Support Group

My baby has the same thing. She is 4 months old and it just appeared in her groin the other day (I panicked of course). It's called an inguinal hernia and unlike the umbilical hernia (she has one of those too), they do not repair themselves and require a small operation to push the bowel back in and seal the little gap it slipped through (the gap is from the canal the testes or ovaries moved down through-I've done quite a bit of research on this now). Some times they use a strong stitch and sometimes they need to use a bit of mesh. It is most common in boys (95% of children who get them are boys) and prem babies. Also common in babies with 'clicky' hips. My daughter was prem and has had some hip problems.
I am not looking forward to the procedure. I've heard that babies can be more settled afterwards but I don't know if that's true. Until she does have it I have been told by the doctor to watch that it doesn't turn purple or get blocked/squeezed. If this happens they need to go straight to hospital. Apparently if it happens the baby will scream in pain so we would definitely know there is a problem. I hope this is some help to you, sorry for going on a bit long, it's nice to know someone else is in the same boat. I asked a question about it in the 'parenting newborns' group but only got one reply so was feeling a bit lonesome :)

Hi mamaamie...thanks for your response to my post. I have done alot of reading on this type of hernia (inguinal), and from what I've read, it says a simple surgery is the only way to correct it.

But my baby's doctor has told me otherwise! He told me that it will "self-resolve", and not to worry about it. He said if it doesn't self-resolve in 1yr, then yes..a surgery will be required. Why would he tell me it will self-resolve?

Anyhow, because I was still quite worried after speaking wit him, he gave me a referrel to speak to this other doctor who specializes in "hernia". So I will definitely seek advice from her, since I know that what the doctor told me is incorrect.

My prem is only 3months of age and is just at 7pds 12oz. So he is still quite tiny for his age. Everyone tells me that if the hernia is NOT hurting him, why request a surgery? because a surgery can cause complications, and especially for a small baby. So I am drawn between what I should do =(

Should I just wait that 1yr as adviced by his doctor, or ask to have it corrected before his hernia becomes stuck and turns blue. I really don't want to be put in the position where I have to rush him to the ER!

Did you request for this surgery on your baby? when will your baby be having this surgery done?

I've been told, and read, that the 'procedure' operation is the only way to fix it. It's all so confusing and pulls at the heart strings when you think about putting your tiny little baby through it. i've been talking to a few mums and they seem to think the op was worth while and not so bad (a day stay). I'm not looking forward to it. When I find out what is happening with my girl I'll let you know. Like you I'd really not have to be wondering if it hurts (every time she cries I think about the hernia) or worrying about having to go to emergency with a stuck hernia.
Keep in touch with how things go at your end :)

MY DAUGHTER WAS 3.5 YEARS OLD WHEN SHE GOT HER INGUINAL HERNIA. SHE HAD A COLD AND VOMITED. THIS IS WHEN IT MUST HAVE HAPPENED BECAUSE MY WIFE NOTICED HER LUMP IN THE GROIN AREA ABOUT AN HOUR LATER WHEN SHE WENT TO THE BATHROOM. THE DOCTOR SAID THE STRAIN FROM VOMITING COULD HAVE FORCED THE ISSUE. FIXED IT RIGHT AWAY AT LONG ISLAND JEWISH CHILDRENS HOSPITAL ON LONG ISLAND ,NEW YORK. . MY DAUGHTER,DARA HELD MY HAND 23 YEARS LATER WHEN I HAD MY INGUINAL HERNIA. ANY QUESTIONS PLEASE E MAIL ME AT saberonyx@optonline.net----my wife has a great memory about her surgey,it went fine!!

Well, since my last post on here we've had to rush into emergency where they were all set to perform surgery before one of the doctors managed to push the hernia back in. This was fortunate as if they had done it then and there the pediatric surgeon would not have been there. My daughter is now booked in for surgery on Wednesday and I'm really not looking forward to it. Wish her luck.

Hope your daughter is fine now.

Even my baby has inguinal hernia and am worried about that. Don't know what to do.

My baby was born at 29+2 gestation and the birth weight was 895 gm. She was given surfactant once and was put on bubble CPAP for 15 days. Baby had RDS. Baby came out of oxygen in less than a month’s time and was moved to the step down NICU. She got Apnea of Prematurity on the 10th day at the step down NICU and with PCV at 32 she was transfused blood. Baby was moved to the main NICU again and was put on Conventional CPAP for 10 days, given blood transfusion again. Baby came out of apnea of prematurity around 37 weeks of gestation, but she got infected on the 1/3rd of upper tibia with osteomyelitis. It might be useful to mention here that she had apnea around 37 weeks of gestation again as she couldn’t tolerate a small dose of morphin given to aspirate puss from the suspected cellulitis, and came out of apnea with the help of bag and mask (in earlier occasions she was given tactical stimulations). For osteomyelitis, baby was given Vancomycin (around 54 gms per day) for 4 weeks and now her leg is much better.

Of late doctor has found that she has inguinal hernia on the left groin in addition to the umbilical hernia which has been there for quite some time. Baby currently weighs around 2282 gms and is 75 days old (i.e., 40+1 week gestation, and EDD was today the 5th of nov 2009). The Pediatric surgeons have seen her and they said they would need to test her genetics for any intersex because it’s a little uncommon in female babies. The genetic test itself will take around 3-4 weeks here. At the same time, the other issue they are concerned of is the fact that she is too small and anesthesia might be an issue for such a small baby. They advised, as parents, we have to balance out the risks: risk of a anesthesia vs. risk of strangulation of hernia; and the doctors said the risk of anesthesia is more given the fact that the baby had RDS, AOP etc..

In this regard, I seek your valuable suggestion as on what will be the best thing to do. We are going to be discharged tomorrow as the genetic test will take some time. The bulge on the inguinal hernia is very small and is not always visible. Even if we do the surgery I would like to take a second opinion.

Is it advisable to wait till we get an emergency for the inguinal hernia or should we just go ahead with the surgery as soon as possible or we should wait till the baby becomes at least 3 kgs to avoid the risk of anesthesia.