Hiatal hernia or hiatus hernia is the protrusion or the extension of the upper part of your stomach into the thorax through a tear or weakness in the diaphragm. Symptoms include acid reflux, and pain similar to heartburn, in the chest and upper stomach. In common patients, hiatus hernias causes no symptoms, however sometimes a patience may experience heartburn and regurgitation, when stomach acid refluxes back into your esophagus. The diagnosis for this condition is typically made through an upper GI series or endoscopy.
There are two major types of hiatal hernia; the most common is the sliding hiatus hernia, where your gastroesophageal junction moves above the diaphragm together with some of the stomach, and the second is rolling or paraesophageal hiatus hernia, in this condition a part of the stomach herniates through your esophageal hiatus and lies beside the esophagus, without movement of the gastroesophageal junction. In most cases, a person having this kind of condition experiences no discomfort that is why no treatment is required. However, if the hiatal hernia is large, or the type of paraesophageal, it can possibly cause esophageal stricture or boundary and will result for an uneasy feeling. Symptomatic patients are highly required to elevate the head of their beds and avoid lying down promptly after every meal.
When the symptoms of hiatal hernia are already severe and chronic acid reflux is involved, surgery is sometimes recommended. This is because the chronic acid reflux can extremely damage the esophagus and could lead to esophageal cancer. The surgical procedure is known as the Nissen fundoplication, in which the gastric fundus or upper part of the stomach is being wrapped or plicated around the inferior part of the esophagus. This will prevent the herniation of stomach through hiatus in diaphragm and the reflux of gastric acids. This procedure has low complication rates and the patient can quickly recover after the procedure.
If you experience any of the mentioned above symptoms, consulting your doctor is the best thing that you can do. However, some symptoms may also appear because of indigestion that is why you don’t need to alarmed and get panic until you receive the diagnostic.
Hiatal hernia should be detected at early stage in order not to lead any other related medical problems and severe complications like heart-attack when left untreated, that is why it is important to visit your doctor regularly.