Banded in May now have hiatal hernia

[nikkidcas 18]

I was banded in May. At my last fill they saw something unusual on X-ray so I had Egd (endoscopy) and they found I now have a hiatal hernia. I've heard of a lot of people having hernia repaired during lap band surgery but has anyone experienced hernia AFTER lap band. Did they repair your hernia laparoscopically? What was recovery time? When can I return to work? Dr said they would unbuckle band during surgery and buckle it back during surgery. He said I would feel different restriction after hernia repaired. Anyone else have this?

[cheryl2586 3,053]

You should ask him how big it is because I have a small one that they did not repair during surgery and I have not had no issues with it. I would think if it is about 2cm you could live with it and not have it repaired.

[nikkidcas 18]

I asked if it had to be repaired and Dr said yes, otherwise my pouch is not working correctly :/

The thought of another surgery upsets me.

[SandyM 1,956]

I asked if it had to be repaired and Dr said yes, otherwise my pouch is not working correctly :/

The thought of another surgery upsets me.

Did you have plication with your surgery? I had hiatal hernia repair, it was rather large, and I think that made my recovery a little slower, but I still returned to work on Monday following surgery on Friday. My surgeon told me that plication would lessen the chance of the hernia returning. Just wondering if your surgeon could integrate plication in with your hernia repair, if you wanted that is. I think the plication has made my journey much easier, though not necessarily any faster.

[nikkidcas 18]

I did have Plication done.

[kll724 3,055]

Best wishes! I hope that you feel better and that your surgery goes smoothly! Karen..aka.kll724

[NaNa 878]

I was banded in May. At my last fill they saw something unusual on X-ray so I had Egd (endoscopy) and they found I now have a hiatal hernia. I've heard of a lot of people having hernia repaired during lap band surgery but has anyone experienced hernia AFTER lap band. Did they repair your hernia laparoscopically? What was recovery time? When can I return to work? Dr said they would unbuckle band during surgery and buckle it back during surgery. He said I would feel different restriction after hernia repaired. Anyone else have this?

Yes a hiatal hernia can cause the band to be ineffective and also cause reflux and is contraindication to banding if it is not repaired.

If the hernia is small most surgeons will not repair it, but if it is too big it will cause issues with the band being effective.

I had a small hiatal hernia when I got banded over 9 years ago and it got bigger and inflamed last year. I had the older type band that did not unbuckle, therefore my surgeon had to remove my old band and replace it with a new one to repair my hiatal hernia.

If you have the new Allergan band you will not have to get your band removed to repair your hernia, your surgeon can just go in and unbuckle the band and repair your hernia.

My recovery was very easy and I had my old band removed and new band placed and hernia repaired all in one surgery.

Good luck