Hernia facts & information 

  • Inguinal hernias are commoner in men than in women (1).
  • Femoral hernias are commoner in women than in men (2), especially overweight or obese women.
  • Inguinal hernias are quite common in babies (3), particularly boys and premature babies. A baby with an inguinal hernia will usually be operated on quite soon after birth, as they can go on to develop a strangulated hernia.
  • One in 20 boys (4) has an inguinal hernia on both sides of their groin (girls do not often get them). This is because of a structural weakness left over from when the testicles descended from inside the abdomen into the scrotal sac.
  • In England, there were around 70,000 surgical repairs of inguinal (groin) hernias from 2001 to 2002 (5).
 

References:

  1. Jenkins & O'Dwyer | Inguinal hernias (pdf) | British Medical Journal (2008); 336: pp 269-272 | DOI: 10.1136/bmj.39450.428275.AD
  2. Pharmaceutical Journal | Successful Truss Fitting (pdf) | Accessed May 20 2009 | The Pharmaceutical Journal (Vol 268, p 62) | Jan 19 2002
  3. Birmingham Children's Hospital NHS Trust | Inguinal Hernia Repair (pdf) | Last copy update Feb 2004 | Medical Illustration Department
  4. Addenbrooke's Hospital | Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | Children's Services | Inguinal Hernia (pdf) | Version 2 published Dec 2008 | Review date Dec 2010 | Pub ref: PIN 165
  5. Health Technology Assessment Programme | McCormack, Wake and Perez et al | Laparoscopic surgery for inguinal hernia repair: systematic review of effectiveness and economic evaluation | Accessed May 19 2009 | Health Technology Assessment 2005; Vol 9: number 14
 
 

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