Hernioplasty: My Experience

#SurgicalShadowing

What is a Hernioplasty?

A Hernioplasty is a surgical procedure when a patient is diagnosed with a hernia. A hernia is a bulge in the opening of the abdomen that can be seen from the outside of the skin. A hernia is usually caused by a weakness in the surrounding muscle which allows the organ to fall through an opening. Pressure can also add to the weakness of muscles leading to a hernia.

The Process

I was given the opportunity to shadow two different types of Hernioplasty procedures including an Inguinal Angelical Hernia and an Umbilical Hernia.

The inguinal hernia refers to a hernia near the groin on the lower portion of the body. The hernia is opened by insertion from the skin surface. It's quite clear where to cut from the outside as there is a well-defined bulge of skin. The surgeon was able to draw around the outside, then proceeded to make the first incision. From there, the internal intestinal muscle was cut rather low and sutured intentionally to create some support for the following actions. A synthetic mesh is added on top of intestinal muscle but underneath the skin and sutured in place. The mesh holds the bulging intestine/organs inside the body, essentially alleviating the hernia.

An Umbilical Hernia is essentially the same procedure but in the umbilical region or where the belly button sits. Usually, umbilical hernias are quite small in comparison to an Inguinal hernia, however, in adults, they must still be surgically operated on. In most cases, a small incision under the belly button is used to push the fat or tissue back into the abdomen. In this instance, the small mesh was placed under the belly button and different stitches were used to prevent any other complications in the region.

My Thoughts

This was a simpler procedure than others I had shadowed that week. Regardless, it was one of the only procedures that placed an external object inside the body, apart from orthopedic surgeries. This procedure was highly technical as it required minimal but accurate incisions, which I found great interest in. The general surgeon I was talking with during the procedure explained that he has performed this surgery countless times and because of the repetitive nature and minimal risks, the surgery has become routine. Furthermore, he explained that umbilical hernias are fairly common for infants but as they grow, the hernia heals itself.

I would recommend this procedure to anyone new to surgical shadowing as it isn't highly intrusive and the patient is typically placed under anesthesia. There is also minimal blood and incisions which can be a good way to get into the surgical atmosphere. Although the surgery wasn't extremely eventful, I believe it gave me insight into the technicality required for any surgical operation.

Here are some pictures I took of the operation. The first two pictures give you an idea of how small the surgical area of the Hernioplasty can be. You can also see a plethora of hands and tools used to hold the skin and create the opening for the mesh. Finally, the last picture shows the readjustment of the intestines before the mesh is placed.