A hernia is a hole in the abdominal fascia which is the strength layer of the abdominal wall which contains the intestines and other abdominal organs. A hole in this layer allows the the intestine to poke thru the abdominal wall into the subcutaneous fat which has no ability to contain the intestine. As a consequence the intestine moves out of the abdominal cavity into a pocket in the subcutaneous fat and gets bigger over time holding more of the intestine.
The intestine trapped in the subcutaneous fat pocket can become strangulated at neck of the narrow hole in the fascia. This causes a blockage of the intestine which is an immediate threat to life. To prevent this we fix hernias, pushing the intestine back into the abdominal cavity and closing the hole it came out thru in the fascia.
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