Difficult Hernias Can Be Treated With Modern Surgery!
Mrs Jha (name changed) , a 41-year-old homemaker was nearly 100 kgs when she saw us. After two previous Cesarean sections, she had developed a very large hernia that was repaired three times but every time, the repair failed. The hernia kept coming back.
Her hernia was painful and it was so big that she could not walk properly. Her life was getting miserable.
A local hospital told her her hernia was too complex for them to handle since she was obese and she would need to find a specialist.
When she consulted with us for her hernia we counselled her that the failure of previous hernia repairs was because of her obesity and diabetes . We also told her that new techniques were now available that gave good results for complex and recurrent hernias. She was advised to reduce weight first, control diabetes before hernia surgery. She expressed her disappointment over her past efforts for weight loss through diet and activity regimens and sought for an alternative. A strategy to perform bariatric surgery– a keyhole procedure for weight loss through stomach stapling- was offered to her followed by a laparoscopic hernia repair.
She underwent BARIATRIC surgery first and lost 35 kgs. Her diabetes also got controlled without any medicines. 6 months after Bariatric Surgery, we did her hernia repair with a new technique called TAR. It is 1 year since the last surgery and she remains free from the pain and discomfort of hernia.
She is doing well since then.
Hernia surgery in the obese has undergone a change in strategy. Recent evidence suggests, that to get best results, weight loss and diabetes control along with newer procedures – TAR- gives best results.
This is great news for many hernia patients who have failed previous surgery or who have large hernia or who are obese.
