Key findings

• New research shows that men are more likely to suffer from hernias than women

• Almost 90% of the most common hernia surgeries during the five-year study were performed on men.

• Women were more likely to undergo two lesser-known types of hernia surgery

TUESDAY, Aug. 12, 2024 (HealthDay News) — At least 20 million hernia surgeries are performed worldwide each year, making it one of the most common medical procedures in the world. But does gender play a role when it comes to hernia risk?

New Australian research backs this up: Half of the nearly 436,000 hernia repairs performed on adults in this country between 2017 and 2021 were for inguinal hernias, with 89.6% of those operations being on men. And the age-standardized prevalence in men was more than seven times higher than in women.

Inguinal hernias were the most commonly observed hernia type in the study.

Why are men more susceptible? Researchers say the gender difference is due to higher rates of smoking, strenuous exercise, bladder problems, chronic respiratory disease, high blood pressure and heart disease.

It is important that doctors “know the patients who are at higher risk for hernia surgery so that we can develop health campaigns and policies to improve their quality of life and reduce their hernia risk,” said study co-author Dr. Marianne Gillam of the University of South Australia in a university press release.

A hernia occurs when one of your organs pushes through the muscle or tissue it is in. This can cause discomfort and abdominal pain and, in severe cases, can trap the intestine, requiring emergency surgery.

For the study, the team used data from the Australian Institute of Health & Welfare (AIHW) to analyze the numbers for five different types of hernia surgery and find out which age groups and genders are most at risk.

What did they find? The incidence of inguinal hernias was significantly higher in men than in women, with lifetime risks being 27% and 3% respectively.

While people between the ages of 60 and 64, and especially men in this age group, are at the highest risk of hernia surgery of all types overall, the researchers found that women are more likely to undergo treatment for femoral hernias in the upper part of the thigh and incisional hernias, a common side effect of abdominal surgery.

However, the risk of abdominal hernia surgery is significantly higher in men of all age groups. However, women of childbearing age between 20 and 39 years have had to undergo epigastric hernia surgery (which is performed between the breastbone and the belly button) more often than men in their age group.

The results were recently published in Critical public health Magazine.

Gillam pointed out that despite the high number of hernia surgeries performed annually worldwide, few studies have attempted to break these numbers down by age and gender.

More information

Johns Hopkins Medicine offers more information about hernias.

SOURCES: University of South Australia, press release, 8 August 2024

What this means for you

New research shows that men require hernia surgery significantly more often than women as they age.