Does the Lap-Band contribute to hiatal hernias?

I'm 39 years-old and I can honestly say that before participation on the Lap-Band forum here I had only heard of/known/met two people with a hiatal hernia.  Both people were elderly.  And I used to work in a predominantly geriatric hospital.  Since being active on this forum, particularly within the past year, I have heard of substantially more hiatal hernias than ever before in my life. For those who don't know what a hiatal hernia is the following is a short explanation taken from the Mayo Clinic website: Your chest cavity and abdomen are separated by your diaphragm — a large dome-shaped muscle that's responsible for a major part of normal breathing. Your esophagus passes into your stomach through an opening in the diaphragm called the hiatus. Hiatal hernias occur when the muscle tissue surrounding this opening becomes weak, and the upper part of your stomach bulges up through the diaphragm into your chest cavity. The site also says: Most small hiatal hernias don't cause problems, and you may never know you have a hiatal hernia unless your doctor discovers it when checking for another condition. So - I was wondering - does the Lap-Band surgery cause some damage to the diaphragm that leaves LB patients more susceptible to hiatal hernias?  Or are we simply more likely to have a hiatal hernia diagnosed because we're more sensitive to or aware of the symptoms because of our Lap-Bands? Also from the Mayo Clinic, something we should probably all be aware of - Signs and Symptoms of a Hiatal Hernia:

Small hernias Most small hiatal hernias cause no problems.

Large hernias Larger hernias may cause the following signs and symptoms when stomach acids back up into your esophagus.

• Heartburn
• Belching
• Chest pain
• Nausea

These signs and symptoms tend to become worse when you lean forward, strain, lift heavy objects or lie down, and they can also worsen during pregnancy.

In rare cases Sometimes, the part of your stomach that protrudes into your chest cavity may become twisted (strangulated) or have its blood supply cut off, leading to:

• Severe chest pain
• Difficulty swallowing (dysphagia)
• Obstruction of your esophagus

From the info I have learned Hiatal hernias are common in all WLS patients.  I have read it is caused by extreme weight loss.

I am 45  yrs and was diagnosed w/ hiatal hernia in june 07.  I have a small one but it is "sliding" and has caused heart burn every day for a long time.   It is caused by pregnancy &  weight gain. I 'm sure there are other causes but these are mine.  I started getting heart burn when I was pregnant in 1997 and it never went away -  I also gained 76 lbs ( some of it was water due to eclampsia)   But it is miserable.  I take Aciphex which is my miracle cure.  Sometimes it is fixed during lapband surgery but it is up to the doc .   As far as Lapband causing the hernias I havent heard that - only that if you already have one it could cause problems after you get the band. 

I had a hital hernia that was repaired when I had my lap band surg. It was found almost a year before my surg when I had a Cat Scan for a kidney stone. I have always had heartburn and indigestion mostly at night while sleeping. My Dr. told me that mine was from weight gain. From what I understand psot surg we are at risk for incision hernias which are more difficult to repair and that it is not unusual for patients with WLS to have a hital hernia prior to surg. My Dr. repairs all hernias with WLS. NANCY

I actually had a hiatal hernia prior to WLS. It was a small one and my doctor repaired it during surgery. No acid reflux since the repair. They contirbute to reflex and are often related to being obese, not necessarliy due to getting WLS. Prior to surgery I had been on every anti-acid and prescription acid blocker known to man. No problems since surgery and hernia repair. Good luck in making your decision.

According to my surgeon, a lot of people have small hiatal hernias that really don't cause any problems. however, when you loose a lot of weight and the fat pad on your stomach shrimnks, it doesn't hold the stomach down as well anymore and your hernia can become worse or your stomach can more easily move up into that space. So it is kind of like the gallbladder problems we tend to have - the band doesn't create the gallstones but it causes weight loss which can exacerbate gallstones and gallbladder problems. My surgeon was saying that they usually did not repair small HH's during band surgery, but now a lot of surgeons are starting to think ti si worth it to go ahead and do the repair even if the HH is small to prevent problems later on.

Hi Carole:  My small hiatalhernia was discovered in the pre-op upper GI I had to have.  My Doc repaired it with a couple stitches when he placed my band.  From what I understand, HH's are pretty common--most people just aren't aware of them unless it's pretty big and causes a lot of reflux and other symptoms.  Possibly, some of these people that have had HH's show up after banding weren't diagnosed pre-op even if it was already there.  Hard to say, everybody's case is different.  Of all the things I've read and heard that the band will cause (even including those few people from the DS board's info), a hiatal hernia isn't one of them.  But hey, I'm not a doctor, just a bandster--what do I know? Chris

I had one removed in December 2007 when I had my revision surgery. I never knew I had one but I did have all the symptoms. I asked my Dr. about 6 weeks after my surgery why my surgery took so long and that was when I was informed he had to remove a hiatal hernia. LISA

Many, many overweight people ahve hiatle hernias. Many times it is from teh pressure of the fat on teh stomach and the way we over eat. If you have gerd, there is a good chance you have one from all the throwing up etc.  Mine was fixed at surgery and i hope it stays that way.

Funny you should ask.... I had an endoscopy pre band back in 2006 which showed Hiatal hernia. I had another endoscopy yesterday for something else and my Dr mentioned that the hernia got better from the band being placed around it if that makes any sense? So in my case the band "repaired" my hernia!!