Question:
Why do so many post ops get hernias?

IS IT BECAUSE OF THE WRONG FOOD COMING UP ALL THE TIME, OR DOING TO MUCH STOMACH EXERCISING? OR MAYBY IT HAS NOTHING TO DO AT ALL WITH WLS, PLEASE LET ME KNOW!!!    — MONIQUE G. (posted on March 7, 2002)

March 6, 2002
It is estimated that 1/3 of people who have open RNY surgery will get a hernia. People who have WLS lap are not at as much of a risk. The hernia has nothing to do with WLS and everything to do with this being a major abdominal surgery that causes a large incision through the muscle walls of the abdomen. I got a hernia, and it's really not that big of a deal. It doesn't hurt and, although I'm eventually going to get it repaired, it is nothing urgent.
   — Terissa R.

March 6, 2002
Sadly about 1/3 of opens get a incisional hernia. LAP the risk is near zero. So get LAP if you possibly can, to avoid another surgery.
   — bob-haller

March 6, 2002
It is mostly because we fail to follow our doctor's advice to not lift over 10 pounds in the first 6 weeks or over 20 for the next 6 months. Few of us can resist carrying in 35 pounds of groceries so we don't have to make 3 trips in, etc. I got my hernias (3 of them along the 13 inch incision) from lifting my elderly father from the bed to his wheelchair. Such is life...
   — merri B.

March 7, 2002
I am 10 1/2 months postop and I can't even buy a hernia. I had an open Duodenal Switch on 04-26-01 and I have lost 162#. I went back to work after being off for 12 weeks. I am a paramedic for the Detroit Fire Department and I have to do a lot of heavy lifting, patients, drug box, monitor, stretcher, oxygen and equipment bag. I have not had any problems with a hernia. So I guess I'm in the 2/3 that didn't get a hernia.
   — Margaret M.

March 9, 2002
Ask you doctor how many open ryn in patients get a hernia my doctor said it was a rare complication and usually happens when a doctor doesn't staple the incision since an obese person puts alot of stress on incisions. My only hernia came from a LAP gallbladder removal and I probably got that from lifting my 2 year old. It wasn't bad enough that it ever needed to be fixed until I had this surgery.
   — Candace F.

March 9, 2002
Candace the LAP hernia might have been caused by a previous open surgery. Open procedures cut the muscle wall and even when healed its never as strong as pre op. Lap only pokes holes in the muscle wall, making it much less likely to cause a hernia.
   — bob-haller