What is the difference between direct and indirect hernia?

What is the difference between direct and indirect hernia?

The difference is in the anatomical location. Direct hernias protrude through the posterior (back) wall of the inguinal canal. Indirect hernias protrude through the inguinal ring.

How can you tell the difference between a direct and indirect inguinal hernia by exam?

The size of the external ring can be ascertained by palpating just lateral to the pubic tubercle. Again with the patient coughing, hernia bulges can be felt either against the side of the examining finger (direct hernia) or at the tip of the finger as it approaches the internal ring (indirect hernia).

What’s the difference between a direct and an indirect inguinal hernia and what is the cause of each?

Direct inguinal hernias are often caused by age-related stress and weakened muscles in the inguinal canal. Indirect inguinal hernias are caused by a persistent opening that does not close during fetal development.

Is direct or indirect hernia more common?

Indirect inguinal hernias are five times more common than direct hernias. In boys, indirect inguinal hernias are the result of a congenital defect of a patent processus vaginalis.

How can you tell if a hernia is direct or indirect?

If you’re a man and your doctor finds that the hernia has extended into your scrotum, the diagnosis is usually an indirect hernia. A direct hernia doesn’t follow that path through the inguinal ring into the scrotum. That means a hernia that forms one side of the groin or the other is most likely a direct hernia.

What is indirect inguinal hernia?

Indirect inguinal hernias are the most common type of groin hernia. Indirect inguinal hernias occur when abdominal content such as fat or bowel pushes down along the inguinal canal. What is the inguinal canal? It is the tunnel through which a man’s vas deferens and testicular vessels travel down into the scrotum.

Which is worse direct or indirect inguinal hernia?

An indirect hernia may also cause bowel obstruction if it slips into the inguinal ring and becomes swollen in the abdomen. This condition can worsen into a phase known as “strangulation,” which can affect blood flow in the intestines. A direct hernia is less likely to cause strangulation of the bowel.