

Normally, your esophagus passes into your stomach through an opening in the diaphragm called the hiatus. Your diaphragm is a large, dome-shaped muscle that separates your chest cavity from your abdomen. It’s not always clear why this happens, but pressure on your stomach and age-related changes in your diaphragm may contribute to the formation of a hiatal hernia.

Hiatal hernia causesĪ hiatal hernia occurs when weakened muscle tissue allows your stomach to bulge up through your diaphragm. Make an appointment with your doctor if you have any persistent signs or symptoms that worry you. However, if the distal stomach becomes obstructed, the resulting proximal gastric distention will lead to nausea and vomiting and in some cases chest pain that radiates to the back. If any contents remain in the distal esophagus, then regurgitation will occur. If the obstruction occurs at the level of the gastroesophageal junction, then dysphagia is the most common symptom. Patients with paraesophageal hernias can develop symptoms of obstruction. Vomiting blood or passing black stools, which may indicate gastrointestinal bleeding.However, larger hiatal hernias can cause signs and symptoms such as: Most patients with sliding hernias (type 1) are generally asymptomatic. However, another organ, most often a portion of the colon, has herniated into the thoracic cavity. Type 4 has an abnormal GE junction position like type 1 and 3.Type 3, like type 2, have a portion of the stomach that has herniated through the hiatus, but also have an abnormal position of the gastroesophageal junction in the thoracic cavity.

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Sliding hiatal hernias represent 95% of all hiatal hernias with paraesophageal hernias making the remaining. Hiatal hernias are common, especially in people over age 50. The prevalence of sliding hiatal hernias ranges from 10% to 60%. When you have a hiatal hernia, it’s easier for the acid to come up. The stomach can push up through this opening and cause a hiatal hernia. Your diaphragm normally has a small opening (hiatus) through which your food tube (esophagus) passes on its way to connect to your stomach. The diaphragm helps keep acid from coming up into the esophagus. The diaphragm is the muscle wall that separates the stomach from the chest. A hiatal hernia is a condition in which the upper part of the stomach pushes upward through an opening in the diaphragm 1).
