Laparoscopic surgery generally has less pain following the procedure.In 2015 inguinal, femoral and abdominal hernias affected about 18.5 million people. About 27% of males and 3% of females develop a groin hernia at some time in their life. Groin hernias occur most often before the age of one and after the age of fifty. Globally, inguinal, femoral and abdominal hernias resulted in 60,000 deaths in 2015 and 55,000 in 1990. Signs and symptoms
Hernias usually present as bulges in the groin area that can become more prominent when coughing, straining, or standing up. The bulge commonly disappears on lying down. Mild discomfort can develop over time. The inability to "reduce", or place the bulge back into the abdomen usually means the hernia is incarcerated which requires emergency surgery. As the hernia progresses, contents of the abdominal cavity, such as the intestines, can descend into the hernia and run the risk of being pinched within the hernia, causing an intestinal obstruction. Significant pain at the hernia site is suggestive of a more severe course, such as incarceration (the hernia cannot be reduced back into the abdomen) and subsequent ischemia and strangulation (when the hernia becomes deprived of blood supply). If the blood supply of the portion of the intestine caught in the hernia is compromised, the hernia is deemed "strangulated" and gut ischemia and gangrene can result, with potentially fatal consequences. The timing of complications is not predictable.
The content of the hernial sac can be felt separately from the testis which lies below the hernia. Complete (or scrotal): here the processus vaginalis is patent throughout. The hernial sac is continuous with the tunica vaginalis of the testis. The hernia descends down to the bottom of the scrotum and it is difficult to differentiate the testis from hernia.In the female, groin hernias are only 4% as common as in males. Indirect inguinal hernia is still the most common groin hernia for females. If a woman has an indirect inguinal hernia, her internal inguinal ring is patent, which is abnormal for females. The protrusion of peritoneum is not called "processus vaginalis" in women, as this structure is related to the migration of the testicle to the scrotum. It is simply a hernia sac. The eventual destination of the hernia contents for a woman is the labium majus on the same side, and hernias can enlarge one labium dramatically if they are allowed to progress. Medical imaging
A physician may diagnose an inguinal hernia, as well as the type, from medical history and physical examination.