What are the symptoms of hernia in children?

Hernia in children is also a relatively common disease. It mainly occurs in the groin area and lumps often appear. Children often experience pain, nausea and vomiting, and severe cases may cause fever and other symptoms. Especially when the child cries hard, the swelling is likely to drop into the scrotum, aggravating the pain and even leading to more serious complications.

1. Protruding mass

Usually when a child is crying, exercising vigorously, or has dry stools, there will be a protruding lump in the groin, which sometimes extends to the scrotum or labia area; it will disappear on its own when the child lies flat or is pressed with the hands. During the day, the swelling will grow larger when the child runs and jumps, but there is no obvious pain. At night, the tumor will shrink or retract into the abdominal cavity, accompanied by bowel sounds. After the tumor shrinks or retracts, some loose skin wrinkles remain locally. However, after crying, exercising, coughing, defecating, etc., the swelling becomes particularly large and feels firm, the abdominal pain worsens, and vomiting, bloating, and cessation of defecation occur. When the baby cries, abdominal pressure increases, the change is more obvious, and the skin becomes thinner.

2. Abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, fever

Once the hernia becomes incarcerated (the hernia mass cannot be reduced), abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, fever, anorexia, or crying and irritability will occur.

3. The tumor may descend into the scrotum

In the early stages of pediatric hernia, the swelling may disappear when the child lies flat and quiet; as the intra-abdominal pressure continues to increase, the swelling may drop into the scrotum. At this time, if the factors causing increased intra-abdominal pressure can be eliminated, and the child can be made to lie flat, or the swelling can be gently pushed toward the abdominal cavity, the swelling can return to the abdominal cavity through the channel through which the testicle descends, and the swelling disappears. This situation is called reducible hernia.

4. Increased abdominal pain

If the tumor cannot be returned to the abdominal cavity, abdominal pain will worsen, the patient will cry incessantly, and then symptoms of intestinal obstruction such as vomiting, abdominal distension, and difficulty defecation will appear. An oval tumor can be seen in the groin or scrotum, which is hard in texture and painful to touch. If the intestine is incarcerated for a long time, redness and swelling can be seen on the skin. If the intestine cannot be returned for a long time, serious complications such as intestinal ischemia and necrosis may occur.