This is one of the most common surgical problems seen in children. It usually occurs as a groin swelling and may occasionally extend into the scrotum on the affected side. This swelling is often discovered accidentally by an observant mother. It may occur when the child cries or coughs or otherwise strains to pass a hard stool or even sneezes.
Less commonly, it is not even observed until the swelling becomes quite persistent and the child is crying continuously. When this happens, it is said to be an obstructed Inguinal hernia and demands an emergency treatment.
The swelling is often seen in one side. It is twice as common in the right side as in the left and sometimes, it is seen in both sides of the groin. Male children are far more commonly affected than female children. Also, it is frequently seen in preterm babies.
It is a condition that should be treated as soon as possible after the diagnosis is made. This is because it is far easier to treat it when it is not complicated that when a complication has occurred. Complications range from an obstruction to strangulation usually of a loop of intestine trapped within the hernia sac.
These complications require emergency surgery and although such children can be expected to recover from such operations where there is the expertise to deal with them. Frequently, some children die as a result.
Equally serious is the risk in males particularly, of losing their testis. This happens during an episode of obstruction or strangulation when the blood vessels supplying the testis on the affected side also become compromised as a result. Such a testis must be removed at surgery.
Many of the public hospitals around the country are inundated with these cases and despite increasing expertise available to deal with them, the waiting list extends from several weeks in some hospitals to several years in others.
If you have a child with a groin swelling, visit your doctor today so he can confirm the diagnosis and advise you. If your child is already on a waiting list at some hospital, follow the instructions you are given to the letter. That is how to be proactive in preventing complications.
In complicated cases, these symptoms appear:
- Child appears ill
- Pain in the groin
- Nausea and vomiting
- Bloating or full abdomen
- Fever
- Tender swelling that appears red or dusky in colour
- Swelling that does not change in size when crying
