A hiatal hernia occurs when part of your stomach moves up through the diaphragm into your chest.
A hiatal hernia is a condition when upper part of the stomach bulges up through the diaphragm and into the chest. Can develop in all ages and genders, mostly occurs in women and people who are over 50 years old.
A small hernia will usually never cause problems, however a larger hiatal hernia causes discomfort and leads to severe Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) .
What causes a hiatal hernia?
- Heavy lifting
- Pregnancy
- Obesity
- Born defect
- Previous surgery
- Excessive coughing or vomiting
Hiatal Hernia repair and why is it important to repair it?
During your weight loss surgery, Dr Moreno will fix it by pulling your stomach back in place and making hiatus smaller. This procedure will takes additional 10 to 20 min to perform depending on the sizes of the defect.
In a patient with a hiatal hernia a portion of the stomach is in the chest, when performing the bariatric procedure the new stomach can migrate back to the chest, which can present complications and need reoperation to return the stomach to its place and repair the defect in the hiatal area.
What are the symptoms?
- None
- Heartburn
- Bitter or sour taste in the back of the throat
- Bloating and belching
- Discomfort or pain in the stomach or esophagus
- Chest pain or epigastric pain