How to Treat an Irreducible Hernia

The type of treatment required for an irreducible hernia will depend on several factors. The location, length of time the hernia was irreducible and amount of pain associated with the hernia will be considered by the treating physician. She will develop a plan of action based on these conditions. Some irreducible hernias respond to reduction (pushing back) and allow for surgery to be scheduled while others require immediate surgical intervention.

Instructions

Discover Treatment of Irreducible Hernias

• 1

  Realize the first choice to treat an irreducible hernia will be an attempt to reduce or push back the hernia. This is often a painful experience that requires the use of pain medication and possibly something to relax the muscles.

• 2

  Understand if an intestinal hernia has been irreducible for an extended time, surgery is indicated to repair the hernia. Gangrene (dead tissue) can occur within 6 hours of the loss of blood supply to the intestine.

• 3

  Know that once a hernia has become irreducible, the risks are increased that it can happen again. Even with successful reduction, surgery is often indicated sooner than if the irreduction had not occurred.

• 4

  Find the choice to treat an irreducible hernia with conservative measures may be indicated when the hernia is easily reduced. If it was irreducible for a short time and no other symptoms are present, an elective hernia repair surgery can be scheduled.

• 5

  Consider a laparoscopic repair the treatment of choice for irreducible hernias. Instead of the traditional open surgery, more hernia surgeons are choosing to use the less-invasive laparoscopic procedure. The recovery time and surgery risks are reduced when the repair is able to be made through a tiny incision using a laparoscope.

• 6

  Wear a hernia belt as directed by your doctor until surgery is scheduled to treat an irreducible hernia. The support will not cure the hernia, but it will reduce the amount of stress on the surrounding tissue until proper surgical intervention can be done.

Recover From Irreducible Hernia Surgery

• 7

  Understand the recovery time will be determined by the extent of damage done by the irreducible hernia. If the colon was strangulated, a colon resection may be required. That will increase the amount of recovery time considerably.

• 8

  Expect to be back to a normal routine in just a few days if there are no complications from the irreducible hernia repair.