Dr. Shouldice rejected the idea that a hernia should be given to a young surgical resident or treated as a bread-and-butter procedure.

FORBES: Bad Medicine

There are two main approaches to repairing a hernia: an open repair that requires a large incision, or a minimally invasive laparoscopic technique, which uses a camera to guide instruments through a tiny incision.

WSJ: A Secret for Patients Undergoing Hernia Repair

Instead, she learned that her ancestor never saw action and was discharged after less than a year for a hernia caused by "excessive marching and a fall over a log, " says Dr. Hibben, a Lake Mathews, Calif.

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Two years ago he played through the summer series against India with a hernia, failed to recover and ended up missing the entire Ashes series that winter.

BBC: Are England in danger of blunting their talisman?

Sidelined by a hernia problem immediately after his move to Merseyside, Kroldrup then failed to impress and admitted that he simply could not cope with the pace and physicality of the English game.

BBC: Sport - World Cup 2010 - per_kroldrup

Using data from a study that followed more than 1, 700 patients in North America, Europe and Australia long-term after hernia repair, Dr. Heniford identified both preoperative and surgical factors associated with chronic postoperative pain.

WSJ: A Secret for Patients Undergoing Hernia Repair