From: doyle+@pitt.edu (Howard R Doyle)
Subject: Re: Hernia
Organization: Pittsburgh TRansplant Institute
Lines: 41

In article <C5qopx.5Mq@encore.com> sheffner@encore.com (Steve Heffner) writes:
>A bit more than a year ago, a hernia in my right groin was
>discovered.  It had produced a dull pain in that area.  The hernia
>was repaired using the least intrusive (orthoscopic?) method and a
>"plug and patch".



I suspect you mean laparoscopic instead of orthoscopic.



>Now the pain occurs more often.  My GP couldn't identify any
>specific problem.  The surgen who performed the original procedure
>now says that yes there is a "new" hernia in the same area and he
>said that he has to cut into the area for the repair this time.
>
>My question to the net:  Is there a nonintrusive method to
>determine if in fact there is a hernia or if the pain is from
>something else?


By far the (still) best method to diagnose a hernia is old fashioned
physical examination. If you have an obvious hernia sac coming down 
into your scrotum, or a bulge in your groin that is brought about by
increasing intra-abdominal pressure....
Sometimes is not that obvious. The hernia is small and you can only 
detect it by putting your finger into the inguinal canal. 
Whether you have a recurrent hernia, or this is related to the previous
operation, I can't tell you. The person that examined you is in  the best
position to make that determination.

Are there non-invasive ways of diagnosing a hernia? Every now and then 
folks write about CT scans and ultrasounds for this. But these are far
too expensive, and unlikely to be better than a trained examining finger.


====================================

Howard Doyle
doyle+@pitt.edu
