Surgical Repair
In general, all hernias should be repaired unless severe pre-existing medical conditions make surgery unsafe. The possible exception to this is a hernia with a large opening.
- Many months before the surgery your doctor may advise for weight loss to help reduce the risks of surgery and to improve the surgical results.
- In diabetics the control of sugar is advocated. In smokers cessation of smoking for over a month or more before surgery is recommended.
- If you are on any blood thinning tablet like aspirin – it should be stopped for 3 to 5 days before surgery. Some of the newer medications like clopidrel need to be stopped for a week before surgery. However do check with your surgeon first before stopping any tablets. In particular diabetics and those taking warfarin need an individual plan which must be discussed with the surgeon.
- Close to the time of the scheduled surgery, patients over 50 may have standard pre-operative blood tests and an electrocardiogram.
- Starting the night before surgery, you must not eat or drink anything.
- Unless your surgeon has decided otherwise, you will have a general anaesthetic for your hernia repair. Risks of general anaesthesia include nausea, vomiting, urinary retention, cut lips, chipped teeth, sore throat and headache. More serious complications like heart attacks, stroke and pneumonia are rare.
Click on the links below to read more about the different kinds of hernia repair:
- Inguinal Hernia Open Repair
- Inguinal Hernia Laparoscopic Repair
- Femoral Hernia Repair
- Incisional Hernia Repair
- Umbilical Hernia Repair
