Question:
Anyone heard of a death from internal hernias?

I am pre op for 3/5/02 Lap RNY. A co worker had a lap 4 months ago and was doing really well. Before surgery she was about 225 lbs and she had lost about 25 lbs in 4 mos. She had seen the surgeon for a check up and was apparently doing well. She collapsed at home 4 days later and then developed sepsis and passed away. I later heard that it was internal hernias that were neglected. She also did not tell the hospital about her surgery so they did not know how to appropriately care for her. She had not told very many people she was even having surgery, so no one in her family knew either. What a shock and terrible waste. Any info on signs or symptoms of these would be appreciated. By the way, I think everyone who has this surg should get a Med Alert bracelet just for situations like this.    — [Anonymous] (posted on February 28, 2002)

February 28, 2002
I have a hernia and I was told that after surgery it would probably get better because it isn't that big and that if it were they would fix it during surgery. Also I don't have a medic alert bracelet but, I do have numerous dogs tags in different colors stating that I have had a gastric bypass
   — [Anonymous]

February 28, 2002
yes, death from a hernia is possible but, not probable. what happens is the hernia gets strangulated in the intestines causing severe blockage & blood supply cutoff. this is an extremely painful condition & i would think that anyone with uncontrollable pain would seek medical help immediately & be HONEST with the dr/nurses/medical staff about their medical history.
   — sheryl titone

March 1, 2002
If she had a hernia that pinched it is painful. Mine will pinch every once in a while and labor is the only thing close to how much this hurt. If hers pinched enough to kill her I can only imagine. She most likely had some pain and pushed it off as severe gas. I know with your surgery being this close it is a scare you didn't need. It does happen and you need to know what to be on the look out for if it happens. Tell the Dr. up front, I get a pain I am calling YOU!
   — Rebecca K.

March 1, 2002
My medical informist... my doc... explained to me that the smaller the hernia the more dangerous.... and are they are more likely to fix a small one right away...I had a large one and was able to schedule surgery when I wanted it... I was still told to be careful not to do a lot of abdominal exercises for the reason of the intestines wrapping around the hernia and doing what was said on a previous post.. ug not a good thing at all.... just take care of yourself post op... go easy on abdominal exercises... and be upfront with the doc regarding any changes... the doc will check for hernias regularly at check ups....
   — Pamela W.

June 18, 2003
I had an internal hernia. The pain was excruciating. More terrible than childbirth. However, pay attention to your body and go to the OR when you experience it. In my case they tried to diagnose it as food poisoning. I advocated for myself and told them it was NOT food poisoning, that something else was wrong and I wanted a CT scan. The CT scan showed the hernia and I was surgically repaired and home within 4 hours. No pain afterwords and a really fast recovery. However, if you ignore your body (and it's pain) you can die. You should NEVER ignore severe pain. It's your body's way of telling you something is very wrong.
   — sandieguy

October 8, 2004
yes it is quite possible this could kill you, i had a internal hernia (petersens defect) which is caused by wls. I almost died, I had just had my repaired on 8/10/04, I spent 9 days in the hospital and 8 weeks at home recovering and just went back to work 2 weeks ago. It was quite painful and hit without warning, the hospital spent a day in a half now knowing what really was wrong, as this did not show up on any x rays or ct scans or ultra sounds, they found it by doing exploratory surgery on me laprascopicly, and ended up having to cut me open to fix the problem. All of my small intestines tore through the messintary lining and was choking and had turned completely grey in color. I was told one more day, I would of died.I dont know how anyone could have this and not know they have it, its horribly painful. If 10 is the worse pain, my pain was 15, it was horrible. Please do not ignore pain, do not ignore what your body is tellig you...if you have any pain at all, seek medical attention asap, it could save your life.
   — LAURA T.

September 22, 2005
I am now 10 months post op and have just had my first problem. I have an internal hernia that is caused from the weight loss. The symptoms I experienced were severe abdominal pain that remained constant at first I went to the emergency room after about 2 hours of this pain. I was given demerol and fenagren for pain/nausau, it helped to ease the pain. After several hours I began throwing up. I coulding keep water down nor anything else. After the emergency room did blood work and all looked fine they released me. I continued to hurt through the night and morning just not as bad, I went to my regular doctor (not the one that did the surgery) he did blood work again since I was throwing up and then after all looked good, he sent me for a CT scan. I had called my surgeon that morning so when I got back from the CT they had called and left a message for me to come there right then. I did but had some problems with the emergency room there so I went to hotel and saw surgeon next day. Had CT results faxed to him and they showed a small bowel obstruction. He said this is when the inside loses weight and leaves air pockets in your intestinal lining and that the intestines can wiggle their way up into the air pockets and cause a kink in the intestines. By this time I was better and not hurting so obviously the obstruction released and passed through like usual. But what can happen is that the intestines stay kinked and caught in this pocket and it will cut off the circulation to the intestines causing it to die. This must be corrected. Doctor said it may never happen again and then again it could happen next time you eat. I have been scheduled for an endoscopy and repair of this problem. Hope this helps.
   — Catharina S.

February 4, 2006
Sorry, I don't have any answers, but I have recently heard of two women who had the intestine running from the old stomach to the "Y" junction get twisted. Then, trapped gas exploded the old stomach. I think one died, one survived, maybe barely.
   — NotDave (Howyadoin?)