Hiatal hernia

Hiatal hernia refers to a disease in which abdominal viscera (mainly the stomach) enter the thoracic cavity through the esophageal hiatus of the diaphragm. Hiatal hernia is the most common type of diaphragmatic hernia, accounting for more than 90%, and belongs to the category of gastroenterology diseases. Patients with hiatal hernia may be asymptomatic or have mild symptoms, and the severity of symptoms is not related to the size of the hernia sac or the severity of esophageal inflammation. Hiatal hernia and reflux esophagitis may occur simultaneously or separately. This disease can occur at any age, but the appearance of symptoms increases with age. The incidence in general population screening is 0.52%, while in routine gastrointestinal X-ray barium meal examinations of patients with suspected symptoms of hiatal hernia, the detection rate of sliding hiatal hernia is 11.8%. In recent years, with the use of special positional compression methods during X-ray examination, the detection rate can reach 80%. Because this disease is often asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic, it is difficult to determine its exact incidence. This disease is more common in females than males, with a ratio of 1.5-3:1.