It is stressful to hear your newborn or child will need surgery. For newborns and infants, often surgery is done fairly soon after the hernia is found. This is because newborns and infants have a high rate of having important organs getting stuck in the hernia. This can make them very sick. When surgery is needed, it is important that this be performed at a hospital like Children’s Wisconsin. Here there are pediatric surgeons, pediatric anesthesiologists and pediatric nurses. They make doing surgery and anesthesia in young children safer.

In children, the repair is often done with just stitches made on the inside of the body. This can be done through small incisions or cuts. Children less than 4 years of age more often have two hernias. One on each side of the body. Sometimes the second hernia is not easy to find. Your surgeon may talk to you about using special tool as part of the first hernia fix to see if there is another hidden hernia. This tool is called a laparoscope. If they find a second hernia they will fix it at the same time. Hernias almost never come back after they are fixed. It happens much more in adults.