Is It Necessary To Undergo Surgery For Hiatal Hernia?

Posted on Thu, 23 Jan 2014

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Thu, 23 Jan 2014 Answered on

Wed, 19 Feb 2014 Last reviewed on

Question : I RECENTLY DEVELOPED A HIATAL HERNIA. THE SURGEON TOLD ME THE ONLY REASON TO DO SURGERY TO CORRECT IT WOULD BE TO STOP ACID REFLUX. I DO NOT HAVE ACID REFLUX, NOR HAVE I HAD IT FOR MANY YEARS. WHEN I DID HAVE IT, I TOOK PRILOSEC FOR WEEKS, THE ACID RELUX DISAPPEARED, AND HAS NEVER RETURNED. MY PHYSICIAN HAS TAKEN ME OFF CARTIA THAT HAS KEPT ME WELL, APPARENTLY, FOR MANY YEARS. I AM 84 YEARS OLD, GOOD BLOOD PRESSURE, DETERIORATING BONES FOR WHICH ORTHOPEDIC DOCTORS SAY OCCASIONAL STEROIDS, INJECTED OR OTHERWISE GIVEN, ARE ALL THEY CAN DO. NO SURGERY POSSIBLE. THANK YOU!!! Betty XXXXXXX

Answered by Dr. Grzegorz Stanko (21 minutes later)

Brief Answer: No surgery necessary. Detailed Answer: Hello! Thank you for the query. Your surgeon is right. Hiatal hernia surgery without acid reflux symptoms is not necessary. You probably have had this hernia for years, it just has been diagnosed recently. Many people have hiatal hernia and do not know about it. Its because it is quite common and usually not serious condition. So you should not bother about this hernia and in case of acid reflux symptoms, use Prilosec (which helps you). Hope this will help. Feel free to ask further questions. Regards.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar