Huge groin hernia treated by laprascopic surgery at AIIMS

A 68-year-old man suffering from massive groin hernia, one of the biggest in size, was successfully operated upon at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) using laprascopic repair, said hospital authorities on Wednesday.

According to the surgeon, parts of patient's small and large intestine protruded through the weak area of his lower abdominal wall (groin) producing a bulge under the skin. The patient was living with the condition for over a decade without getting proper medical attention.

"This surgery was a bit unique as the size of the groin hernia was giant and along with that the patient had some 10 years ago also undergone surgery for the right sided hernia. However, this time it was on the left side and much bigger in size," AIIMS director M.C Misra told IANS.

Misra said that if there was a delay in the surgery, the patient, hailing from Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh, would have suffered problems of pulmonary and cardiac functions.

The patient was a heavy smoker too, contributing to the complications.

According to the health data, India every year witnesses 300,000 groin hernia surgeries.

Considering the risk of respiratory dysfunction, which the patient might have suffered from if intestines and organs had pushed back wrongly, the patient was asked to practice some respiratory exercises prior to the surgery, Misra said.

Medical sciences state that groin hernia once formed never goes away or become smaller on its own. Large hernias can extend into the scrotum, put pressure on surrounding tissues and become painful.

Most serious complications of a groin hernia are strangulation or incarceration. This is a serious complication and the trapped tissues die if surgery is not performed promptly.

"Even after all the preparation, we were apprehensive about it. Also, because laprascopic surgery is hardly used to perform surgery for such giant herna problems," Misra said.

"However, we performed the surgery under general anathesia keeping in notice the entire problem," he added.

Misra, who is one India's leading surgeons and has already performed over 1,000 groin surgeries through laprascopic repair, said, "To bring back the intestine and organs, the patient was turned upside down. The surgery was finally successful."

"We will now keep the patient under observation for 24-48 hours as he is in the ICU, following which we will shift him to the general ward," he said.