Our Doctors Answer

Once an inguinal hernia has been diagnosed, surgery should be performed as early as possible, at the most suitable time. After hernia surgery, patients are discharged from the day surgery unit following observation and feeding. Premature babies with low birth weight or additional medical conditions may be admitted and monitored in hospital. The necessary recommendations on post-operative check-ups and pain management are given to families when they leave the hospital.

While babies are in the womb, their testes are located inside the abdomen, and some time before birth they descend through the inguinal canal into the scrotum. When a testis fails to complete its descent and remains in the inguinal canal, the condition is called an undescended testis. Babies with an undescended testis are followed until 18 months of age, because the testis may descend into the scrotum on its own. If the testis has not descended during this follow-up period, day surgery is planned. Children with an undescended testis are checked in the outpatient clinic the day after surgery and 15 days later for dressing changes.

Muscular torticollis means a crooked neck. It can occur for many reasons. It develops because of hardening of the sternocleidomastoid muscle, which holds the neck steady and contributes to its movements. The baby's neck tilts toward the side of the thickened muscle, while the baby's face turns toward the opposite side. Babies younger than one year are followed with stretching exercises. Surgical treatment is planned for babies who are older than one year and do not benefit from stretching exercises. In surgical treatment, part of the hardened neck muscle is removed to correct the tilt. After this procedure, patients are kept in hospital for 1 night and followed with a neck collar for one month.