Researchers say increasing wait times for hernia surgery for infants and toddlers under two, not only leads to more emergency visits, but could also potentially damage testicles or ovaries

Inguinal hernia, a bulging tissue in the groin area that could also be present at birth, is one of the most common surgical childhood disorders responsible for vomiting, lack of bowel movements and other symptoms, leading to increasing number of emergency room visits.

Dr. Jacob Langer of Toronto’s Hospital For Sick Children and colleagues reporting in Tuesday’s issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal studies 1,100 children under two surgically repaired for inguinal hernias.  The found, waiting more than 14-days for surgical, doubled the risk of hernia incarceration or strangled hernia i.e. a bowel loop getting stuck in the abdominal wall opening in the groin area, which starves the bowel of its blood supply.  Testicles or less commonly an ovary that slides down through the hernia, can get stuck or damaged.

It was found that 11.9% of children waiting for the elective surgery developed incarcerated hernias, which if left untreated, could lead to serious health problems.

In a commentary to the research findings, Dr. Geoffrey Blair, Chair of the Pediatric Surgical Chiefs of Canada asks for children with painful hernias, a section of the population which has been largely ignored in the debate over surgical wait times in Canada, to be classified into urgent, less urgent and even ‘wait-and-see’ groups, to develop a more effective strategy to manage their surgical needs.