What are the symptoms of mediastinal hernia

Most people are not very familiar with mediastinal hernia. The main reason is that the incidence rate is relatively low. Moreover, the symptoms of this disease during an attack are completely different for each person, and the severity varies. Severe patients will often have symptoms of bloody stools and abdominal pain, which will affect the original quality of life and cause some organ necrosis.

Clinical manifestations

The main clinical manifestations of mediastinal hernia are symptoms and signs of the primary disease. For example, if tension pneumothorax occurs, it will manifest as severe dyspnea and circulatory disorders. Because mediastinal hernia coexists with mediastinal displacement, physical examination may reveal signs such as tracheal displacement, cardiac border displacement, and apical beat displacement.

The clinical symptoms of diaphragmatic hernia vary in severity, which are mainly determined by the capacity of the abdominal organs herniated into the chest, the degree of organ dysfunction and the degree of respiratory and circulatory dysfunction caused by increased intrathoracic pressure. It can be roughly divided into two categories:

1. Functional changes caused by herniation of abdominal organs into the chest

Such as fullness, belching, burning sensation in the upper abdomen or behind the sternum, and acid reflux after meals. This is because gastric acid refluxes into the esophagus after the cardiac mechanism disappears, causing esophageal mucosal inflammation or esophageal ulcers; in severe cases, vomiting blood and difficulty swallowing may occur. Partial gastrointestinal obstruction can cause nausea, vomiting and abdominal distension. In severe cases, complete gastrointestinal obstruction or strangulation obstruction may occur, resulting in vomiting blood, bloody stools, abdominal pain and distension, and even organ necrosis, perforation, and shock.

2. Respiratory and circulatory dysfunction caused by compression of thoracic organs

When abdominal organs herniate into the chest, the lung on the affected side is compressed and the heart is pushed to the opposite side. In mild cases, the patient feels chest tightness and shortness of breath; in severe cases, difficulty breathing, increased heart rate and cyanosis occur.

Depending on the organs herniated into the chest, chest percussion may produce dull sounds or tympanic sounds, the breath sounds on the affected side may weaken or disappear, sometimes bowel sounds may be heard in the chest, the heart and trachea may shift to the opposite side, the abdomen may be flat and soft, and the infant's frog belly may disappear. Congenital diaphragmatic hernia can be diagnosed by chest X-ray and barium enema.