For those of you who had hiatal hernia's repaired during surgery, did you know you had this beforehand? or did they tell you after surgery?

I've read that a bunch of you have had this and I was wondering if it something that can go undiagnosed until they are in there. I've researched it and I really think I have it, but my surgeon has said nothing to me about it. I get horrible heartburn almost every night even when I don't eat anything that usually triggers heartburn. I also get pain right around the breast bone that hurts if I push on when I have this heartburn.

I was told I had it beforehand when I had a pre-op procedure (upper endoscopy). I NEVER had any of the symptoms you're experiencing, which I later learned is very typical for hiatal hernias. I asked them if they were going to repair it when they do the surgery (date TBD), and they basically said "they'll see" once they're in there. Good luck with that!

Hi There - I had the usual full work-up of tests prior to getting my band including the upper GI and a chest x-ray. No hiatal hernia was diagnosed. I went in to have my band, they gave me the anesthesia and when I woke up, the nurses told me I had a giant hiatal hernia. When I saw the doctor later in the day, he said it completely surprised him because it was completely undetected in any of my other tests. He said it was one of the largest he has ever seen. The weird thing is that I also didn't have any symptoms. I had occasional reflux and heartburn but nothing too major. So, the answer is yes this is something that can go undetected until the operation - it happened to me!

I was told about mine after the endoscopy. It was planned with my surgeon to repair it while they were in there.

Thanks. I didn't have a chest x-ray, but I did have an esophagram. No one has said anything about it.

I'm just hoping that this heartburn goes away. Sometimes I get it when I haven't even eaten anything.

Edited June 9, 201016 yr by JaxsMom

I had a fairly large hiatal hernia that was diagonosed through an upper-GI many years ago. Thanks to the hernia I was able to get insurance to pay for my hospital stay and pre-tests even though they wouldn't pay for the band. I had immediate relief from heartburn that was absolutely terrible because I had GERD. It was like hot acid spilling over open wounds all day long. The band was worth getting even if it just pushed me to get the hernia fixed. It did make my recovery a little longer because I was in surgery longer. Now I only get heartburn from the things you would expect and not very often.

I had an undiagnosed one repaired when I had my surgery. I had suffered from serious acid reflux for years, but I guess no one ever thought to have any testing done since the pills were keeping the acid under control for the most part. I know my PC had a NP that blamed everything wrong with me on my weight, so my guess is she figured if I lost weight my acid reflux would go away...

I have suffered from heartburn for years and like others have mentioned, sometimes weird stuff will cause it.

When I had my initial meeting with the NP she asked me if I had heartburn or reflux and based on my answer she ordered an Upper GI. A small hiatal hernia was diagnosed, but my Dr. said he won't know if it will require repair or not until he "gets in there."

He did warn me that for many band patients the heartburn and/or reflux do get worse DESPITE the hernia repair.

My surgery is scheduled for Monday and I'll let you know what happened. :tongue2:

Good luck to you-

kagead

I was told after surgery that I had one and the surgeon repaired it. I did not have any symptoms but I apparently had one. I didnt know until in the recovery room that the surgeon repaired it. I aften thought it was a dream for awhile because it was when I first woke up so I didnt know if it was real or not .. but at my follow up appoint me 1 week post op I saw in the computer when they did my weigh in that a hiatal hernia was repaired. So I guess it was true.. Ask you doc about it.

For those of you who had hiatal hernia's repaired during surgery, did you know you had this beforehand? or did they tell you after surgery?

I had no clue! My surgeon told me that when they were in there, they noticed it and repaired it. It was nice because I'm a "don't ask, don't tell" person to most of the world, and so if anyone really pressed, I told them my surgery was to repair a hernia. I work with a bigtime gossip in my office, and she would tell the whole building, just so she had something to know and share. I don't need my business trounced around like that. So, I took great pride in telling her when I got back to work that I had a hernia repaired. :thumbup:

I had the same symptons as you did. Advised the Doctor in my consult and he asked me to rate it from 1-10 (I rated it a 10) then he advised me he would take a look at it when he was already in there. Which he did and it was repaired.

From what I understand, Many people have hiatal hernias. Mine was diagnosed during my pre op testing (endoscopy). My surgeon said he'd decide once he got in there if it should be repaired or not. He repaired it. I had no idea that I had acid reflux and an eroded esophagus. I knew something was going on in my throat though. In December I had a sore throat that wouldn't go away after many trips to the family doc. Then in March I found out the problem when I had the endoscopy done.

Thanks for all your help. My surgery is on Monday. I'm going to make sure I mention this to my surgeon. We'll see if I have one or not.

I always had heartburn pre-band. Throughout the testing (including an upper GI) there was no diagnosis for a hernia. The morning of my surgery, my surgeon had me sign a consent "just in case" I needed a hernia repair. He said that alot of overweight people have a hiatal hernia they do not know about...he's seen it enough to know to get pre-approval to fix it. I did have one. After surgery, I didn't have heartburn at all --woohoo--until my band was overfilled over a year out.

Hope this helps!

Crystal

I woke up from surgery to find out I had a very large hiatal hernia that they repaired. They said it was huge. I swear I never knew, and frankly I don't think I ever had any symptoms. Sure, every once in a *great* while I would get heartburn, but it seemed normal since it was after really over indulging or eating something really spicy. But if I got hearburn once a year, that was a lot.

Anyway, I guess I am glad it is repaired but it has made my recovery from surgery (4 weeks now) harder, and I have more heartburn and reflux since surgery. Although that is starting to get better. On the upside, I haven't wanted to eat much so my initial weight loss has been very good with 30 pounds gone since I started my pre-op diet.