Incarcerated paraesophageal hernia

Abstract

Of twenty-nine patients with paraesophageal hernia, incarceration and strangulation occurred in ten or 30.4 per cent. This high incidence of incarceration and strangulation with their serious sequelae is not appreciated. There was no mortality in patients operated on electiyely after insertion of a nasogastric tube for gastric decompression. In four patients in whom a nasogastric tube could not be passed making immediate operation mandatory, the mortality was 50 per cent. This experience suggests that paraesophageal hernia should be corrected unless the patient is not a candidate for surglery.