Looking for Information on Baby Inguinal Hernias :(

My son (now 18) had this operation when he was 4 months old. He cried so much before he had the operation -- I think he was in pain.
Both his father and uncle had the operation when they were young. Good luck.

Hello M.,
When my son was 3 months old, I saw something moving around in my son's lower stomach. I suspected it was a hernia. I had many visits to the doctor, plus sonograms on his belly. He was almost a year old when they removed it. It grows bigger & your son will end up screaming because the hernia can go in the scrotum area.
I had to push it back in, which wasn't something I was happy about. My son has a scar on his lower belly. As any anesia procedure, no food for 12 hours prior to surgery. I didn't like the fact of not feeding my son.
This was 13 years ago, he's a very active boy now. A physician who knows about child surgeries would be a good way to go.I brought my son in, but the doctor didnt', & I brought him in a day later.
After the surgery they will put tape on the scar because of the stitches. The first week will be a hassle due to the stitches. I don't know why they waited a long time to operate & remove the hernia.
Congrats on your son. The sooner the surgery the better, hernias do grow. Good luck, G.

I hate to say don't worry but...don't it is a common thing. My son was 3 months old when we found his and he had surgery to correct it. No Problems!
We have Kaiser so they sent us to the Dr and he was great...Curran in Sacramento. He explained that they is just a part of the body that does not close and it forms this hernia.
Good luck
jen a

My son had this same type of hernia but it didn't show up until he started walking. At 15 months old he went in for surgery to repair it. Everything went just fine and he's never had problems with it again and he's 9 now. Dr Rose in Santa Cruz performed the surgery. You do want someone very skilled because it's my understanding this is a very delicate surgery ,everything is so small and you don't want any slip ups. Dr Rose assured me he wouldn't ruin the chances for grandchildren. I would imagine there is no hurry for the surgery soon right? maybe after he is 1 and walking? I would question why ,if a doctor wanted to do it at your sons very young age.

My son was born at 29 weeks and had an inguinal hernia. He had surgery to fix it three weeks before his due date. He didn't even weigh seven pounds yet. The docs told me that this is the most common surgery performed on babies. Also, it is very important to take care of it asap because something can get stuck in the part of the intestine that is poking through the muscle and cause a far more serious problem. Make sure you are comfortable with the ped surgeon, and talk to the ped anesthesiolologist to make sure he/she will be there monitoring your baby and the anesthesia the whole time. I do not believe there are "hernia" specialists. There are pediatric surgeons and pediatric anesthesiologists. The specialist you are seeing is probably a general ped surgeon. If you trust you pediatrician and trust his/her ability to recommed a specialist, great. If not, go to UCSF Children's Hospital, Oakland Children's Hospital, or Packard Children's hospital at Stanford right away. While this condition is not a huge problem right now, it can become one if it is not treated promptly. You have no sound medical choice of which I am aware other than allowing your baby to undergo surgery when the doc says you need to if the finding is that he has an inguinal hernia. My son is now almost six years old and is just fine. He recovered very quickly from the surgery. I completely understand how scary this is; it was so hard to hand my baby over the the OR nurse. Please feel free to send me emails off of this thread if you have more questions, and I wish you and your son the best. Oh -- and the whole preemie thing is only relevant in that inguinal hernias are particularly common in male preemies.
K.

My son did get his hernia problem from being a preemie, but because of that I was connected to some good doctor's through the UCDMC system in Sacramento. Honestly, I can't remember the specific name, but I haven't had a bad doctor there yet and we were there for four months. I don't think there really is going to be a hernia specialist per se, it's a simple surgery, but what I would want, would be a pediatric surgeon at a children's hospital. I always felt safer with a pediatric anesthesiologist putting my child under, as the needs are much different for a child, than an adult. But honestly, the whole thing wasn't that bad. And it's something that he just can't go without. My son was in the hospital overnight, then we went home the next day. Never any complications. His pain needs were well taken care of. I really don't remember him being very fussy at all. :-)

IF this is the hernia in the groin, where his little testicle goes up into the groin sometimes (after bath is when i noticed it), then I know. My son had it repaired before he was 2.
Not a big deal AT ALL. We did not notice it at 8 weeks though! The hardest part of the whole thing was when he woke up (IT was out patient surg) and was supposed to kinda take it easy-well you know boys, he was bouncing around like normal!
Congratulations on your son. Good luck.

My two boys were full-term, >9 pounds, and both born with hernias. They had their surgeries at 22 hours old and 19 days old, and all went well. The same surgeon repaired them, but he used a big sticker to seal the incision on the first and glue for the second. The sticker left a much smaller scar; the glue did not seal as well. Good luck.

Hi M.,

My son had this surgery almost exactly one year ago, at age 5 1/2. I echo the other moms -- it is really no big deal. A very quick procedure and recovery. My son's surgery was performed by Dr. Thomas Duckett and I would recommend him highly. At the time, his office was located on Doyle Park Dr. but he has since moved offices (we got a postcard in the mail recently, but I tossed it) -- I think to somewhere near Airport Blvd in SR. Good luck and try not to worry!

A.

My son had this surgery at 1 year and he's 34 now. Once the repair was done, he had no further problems. Even in the 70's it was considered minor surgery and we brought our son home the same day. Your pediatrician should be able to recommend a good pediatric specialist for this. Inguinal hernia's are a very common problem with little boys, having nothing to do with birth weight, or gestation term and everything to do with the testicles dropping into place. Sometimes the hole in the connective tissue doesn't close as it should leaving a spot where the small intestine can get "caught". Surgery is the only way to repair it, but it's a very common procedure.
Your son will be fine.

My son was 6 wks. old and he had left and right side inguinal hernias repaired. He is 15 now. The hardest part was not being able to feed him after midnight and this tiny little baby crying because he was hungry and not understanding why he can't eat. He recovered fine after the surgery and all went well. Good luck. He'll do fine.

Hi there,

I can't offer any advice from the momma perspective, but I CAN tell you that I went through this as a baby. My mom said it broke her heart to listen to me cry, but that after it was over, I was totally fine. As for me, I grew up strong, normal, no memory of the alleged 'trauma' and only have the faintest of faint scars where no one is going to see anyway! Given that all this was 40 years ago, I'm sure the process is even better and safer now. Best of luck to you and your son!!

If you live in or close to Santa Clara....and have Kaiser, go see Dr. Sullivan. I think her first name is Carrie. She specializes in this. She is in the Pediatric Surgery department. She took care of both of my boys a few years ago and they are doing great now!