• Advances in pediatric surgery
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.141-148
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• 2009

Peritoneal dialysis (PD) has been utilized for the children with end stage renal disease. Nevertheless, it is thought to promote inguinal hernia by increasing intraabdominal pressure. To investigate the clinical characteristics of inguinal hernia in children on PD, 155 cases of PD in children between January 1996 and June 2007 at Seoul National University Children's Hospital were reviewed retrospectively. Inguinal hernia developed in 16 cases (10.3 %, M:F=8:8). Hernia occurrence was not correlated to age. Eleven cases (69 %) of inguinal hernia developed in first 6 months after initiation of PD. All inguinal hernias were surgically repaired. No complications occurred related to inguinal hernia or surgery. Recurrent hernia developed in 1 patient (6.3 %) of 2 cases who had PD postoperatively on the day of surgery. In conclusion, inguinal hernia developed more frequently with children on PD than general population (3.5~5 %). The rate of hernia development was highest within the first 6 months following initiation of PD. After repair of hernia, we recommend to discontinue PD immediate postoperatively to prevent recurrence.

• Advances in pediatric surgery
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.187-193
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• 2007

Contralateral exploration in children with unilateral inguinal hernia is controversial. This study was done to identify risk factors for the development of contralateral inguinal hernia in patients with unilateral inguinal hernia. The clinical experience of 4,206 inguinal hernias repaired by one pediatric surgeon on 3,358 children at HanYang University Hospital from September 1979 to December 2002 was analyzed. 1,868 (55.6%) hernias occurred on right side, 1,190 (35.4%) on left side, and 300 (8.9%) were bilateral. 2,702 children were boys and 656 were girls (M:F = 4.1:1). 170 children of 3,058 children with unilateral hernias (5.6%) developed contralateral inguinal hernia at 1 day to 95 months after herniotomy. 146 children were boys and 24 were girls (M:F = 6.1:1). The patients who had had herniotomy before 1 year of age developed contralateral hernia in 17.4%, compared with 5.6% overall average. The earlier the first herniotomy was performed, the more frequently contralateral hernia developed. The occurrence of contralateral inguinal hernia was more frequent in boys (146 of 2,460, 5.9%) than girls (24 of 598, 4.0%) and more frequent after left herniotomy (80 of 1,190, 6.7%) than after right herniotomy (90 of 1,868, 4.8%), but statistically not significant. 52.9% of contralateral inguinal hernia developed within 1 year after hernia repair, and 87.6% developed within 3 years. Routine exploration on contralateral side in children is not necessary.

• Advances in pediatric surgery
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.124-127
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• 2000

Femoral hernia is very rare in children and is easily misdiagnosed. During a period of three years, three children with femoral hernia were treated by one pediatric surgeon at Severance Hospital. Only one case was diagnosed correctly before surgery, and the others were thought to be either an indirect inguinal hernia or groin mass. Curative hernioplasty (McVay hernioplasty) could be done in only one case at the time of first operation. Diagnosis of femoral hernia in children is a challenge because of rarity and similarity of clinical presentation to indirect inguinal hernia. Co-incidental findings of indirect inguinal hernia sac or patent processus vaginalis during surgery can perpetuate the misdiagnosis. In case of absence of expected indirect inguinal hernia or apparent recurrence of indirect inguinal hernia, one should consider the possibility of femoral hernia.

• Advances in pediatric surgery
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.48-57
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• 2008

Prophylactic contralateral exploration in unilateral inguinal hernia repair is still controversial. The purpose of this study is to analyze the contralateral incidence of hernia and to verify the necessity of the simultaneous contralateral exploration. Infants and children operated on for inguinal hernia or hydrocele at the Department of Pediatric Surgery of Asan Medical Center from January 1996 to December 2005 were analyzed retrospectively. A total of 383 patients (9.8 %) out of 3,925 patients underwent a simultaneous bilateral operation. A total of 222 patients (6.2 %) out of 3,542 patients underwent a secondary metachronous contralateral operation after primary unilateral inguinal hernia or hydrocele repair. Because simultaneous bilateral operation cases included true bilateral inguinal hernia or hydrocele, and unilateral hernia and simultaneous contralateral exploration, bilateral incidence of inguinal hernia and hydrocele could be maximally considered as 15.4% (605 patients). Therefore, the prophylactic contralateral exploration in unilateral inguinal hernia or hydrocele should be determined carefully in considering history and physical examination of the patients, and postoperative complications.

• Advances in pediatric surgery
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.89-94
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• 2000

Ventriculoperitoneal shunt(VP shunt) for hydrocephalus is thought to inhibit the closure of processus vaginalis and promote inguinal hernia by increasing intraabdominal pressure. To estimate the patency rate of processus vaginalis and the incidence and characteristics of the inguinal hernia, 262 cases of VP shunt in early childhood between January 1980 and May 1998 at Seoul National University Children Hospital were reviewed retrospectively. Inguinal hernia developed in 28 cases(10.7 %), but six patients had an inguinal hernia before the VP shunt was placed. Patients who had a VP shunt before 6 months of age developed inguinal hernia in 16.2 %(12/74) of cases, patients shunted between 6 months and 2 years had an incidence of 12.4 %(11/89) and only 5.1 %(5/99) of patients operated upon after 2 years of age developed hernias. Twenty-two patients out of 256 cases (8.6 %) developed inguinal hernia after VP shunt, with male predominance(M : F=4.5:1). Eight patients developed inguinal hernia bilaterally(36.4 %). It is suggested that at least 14% of processus vaginalis is patent until 2 years old.

• Advances in pediatric surgery
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.8-17
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• 1995

The clinical experience of 2,340 inguinal hernia repaired by one pediatric surgeon on 2,079 children at Hanyang University Hospital from September 1979 to December 1993 was analyzed. Of 2,046 patients who had primary hernia repairs at Hanyang University Hospital, 1,636 were male and 410 female, and 55.5% of hernias occurred on the right side, 36.0% on the left, and 8.6% were bilateral. The patients presented hernia under the age of 12 months were 45.3% and those performed herniotomy under the age of 12 months were 25.5%. Birth weight was less than 2.5kg in 111 patients(8.7%) of 1,279 data available patients. Ninety(6.6%) of 1,354 data available patients were premature(<37wks gestation). The proportions of bilateral inguinal hernia and the onset age under 12 months of life in low birth weight babies and premature babies were higher than in full-term babies. Incarcerated inguinal hernia occurred in 327 patients(16.0%) of whom 8 patients were strangulated hernias. The occurrence of incarceration inversely related with age of patients. The subsequent contralateral inguinal hernia following unilateral hernia repairs occurred in 80 patients(4.3%) among which 72 were male and 8 were female. The incidence of contralateral inguinal hernia was more frequent in boys(4.8%) than girls (2.2%) and in cases after left herniotomy(6.4%) than after right herniotomy(2.9%). Sixty percent of contralateral inguinal hernia developed within 1 year after primary hernia repair. The recurrence of inguinal hernia occurred in 6 patients(0.27%) treated at our hospital primarily. There were one or more associated congenital anomalies in 83 patients of which congenital heart diseases were the most common. Sliding hernia occurred in 25 patients consisted of 5 boys and 20 girls. Family history was noted in 35 patients and there were 28 sets of monozygotic and 3 sets of dizygotic twins.

• Advances in pediatric surgery
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.131-135
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• 2004

The purpose of this retrospective study was to evaluate the effects of diagnostic sonography in pediatric patients with inguinal hernias. The patients were classified into two groups. Group A included the patients who had been operated upon for inguinal hernia in 1980's, when diagnostic sonography was not available. Group B included the patients, operated upon for inguinal hernia from 2001 to 2002, when inguinal sonography was employed to detect potential bilateral hernias. The age distribution, sex ratio, laterality, bilaterality, and concomitant symptoms were compared between group A and group B. There were 296 cases in group A and 377 cases in group B. The prevalent age group was from 1 to 5 years. There was no difference in age group distribution between both groups. The male to female ratio was 5.3:1 in group A and 3.5:1 in group B. The ratio of unilateral to bilateral hernia was 5:1 in group A and 3:1 in group B. In cases with a unilateral hernia, the ratio of right to left was 1.5:1 in group A and 1.8:1 in group B. In cases with bilateral hernia, the simultaneous bilateral hernia was 33 cases (67.4 %) in group A and 75 cases (80.6 %) in group B. The sequential bilateral hernia was 16 cases (32.7 %) in group A and 18 cases (19.4 %) in group B. Although the ratio of bilateral hernia was increased in group B, the portion of the sequential bilateral hernia was significantly decreased in group B. In conclusion, there were no differences in the age distribution and the laterality between group A and B. The ratio of female patients and the incidence of bilateral hernia were increased in group B even though the portion of the sequential bilateral hernia was decreased. This result shows that the preoperative inguinal sonography in unilateral hernia with potential bilateral hernia is useful in early detection of the sequential contralateral hernia.

• Advances in pediatric surgery
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.11-16
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• 2006

Inguinal hernia is one of the most common surgical diseases in pediatric patients. But the management of the side opposite the clinically apparent inguinal hernia, the "silent side" is controversial. Four hundred fifty-eight cases of pediatric inguinal hernias, operated by one pediatric surgeon at the Divisionof Pediatric Surgery, Department of Surgery, Chonbuk National University Hospital from January 1998 to December 2002, were reviewed retrospectively to determine the characteristics and significances of the silk-glove test on the side opposite the clinically apparent inguinal hernia. Males were preponderant as 2.8:1. Allhernias were of the indirect type and were repaired by high ligation of the sac. There were 238 (52.0 %) right sided hernias, 160 (35.0 %) were on the left and 60 (13.0%) were bilateral. The number of patients with a positive silk-glove sign on the contralateral side was 158(39.7 %), and 133 of these had a contralateral patent processus vaginalis. Positive predictive value of Silk-glove test was 84.2 % (133/158). The silk-glove test is a simple, safe, and relatively accurate method for contralateral exploration in the unilateral inguinal hernias in children.

• Advances in pediatric surgery
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.58-61
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• 2014

Palpable inguinal mass in children should be differentiated from inguinal hernia, hydrocele, lymph node, and tumor. Though using ultrasonography, fatty tumor would be misdiagnosed as incarcerated inguinal hernia containing fatty component. We experienced the huge inguinal lipoblastoma in 5-year-old girl mimicking recurrent incarcerated hernia. Laparoscopic exploration revealed it was not incarcerated hernia but well demarcated bulging mass from abdominal wall. Mass was about $10{\times}4{\times}3cm$ and extended from internal inguinal ring to saphenous opening. It was near total excised because of right external iliac vein injury. Pathologically, it was proven as lipoblastoma containing mature adipocyte with lipoblast and fibrous septa. Postoperatively, we noticed a segmental thrombotic occlusion of external iliac vein. After 1 year, she has no symptom related to occluded vessel. The remained lipoblastoma showed no interval change. Even lipoblastoma has a good prognosis with low recurrence rate, we need careful follow-up.

• Advances in pediatric surgery
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.73-80
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• 2013

Ketamine is a safe and effective drug for pediatric anesthesia, sedation and analgesia. We hoped to identify that surgeons could operate a pediatric hernia with the ketamine anesthesia without general anesthesia. The study was a consecutive case series of 2230 inguinal hernia patients aged 1 months to 17 years in a Joo's day-surgical clinic during 11-year period. The patients had pediatric inguinal hernia surgery without general anesthesia under the day-surgery system. We retrospectively analyzed the medical record of patients who were registered with the Diagnosis Related Group (DRG) system. All patients received ketamine (5mg/kg) and atropine (0.01mg/kg) intramuscularly before surgery. After anesthesia, we injected 1~2% lidocaine (Less than 5ml) subcutaneously at the site of incision and started operation. The surgical method was the high ligation method of the hernia sac.) In total 2230 patients, male were 1756 and female were 474. 2076 patients were a unilateral inguinal hernia at the time of surgery and 154 were bilateral hernia patients. Less than three months, depending on the age of the patients was 391, and less than 12 months the patient was 592 people (26.5%). After surgery, there were no accidents or long term complications associated with ketamine anesthesia. We think the surgeon can safely do the pediatric inguinal hernia surgery using ketamine and lidocaine without anesthesiologist through 11 years of our surgical experiences.