Hernia surgery at Spire Cardiff Hospital

At Spire Cardiff Hospital, we’re proud to be the largest, modern provider of private hospital care in Wales.

Our consultants have wide experience in performing hernia repair surgery. They’ll offer you a treatment and recovery plan that’s tailored to you. With fast access to tests, scans and treatments, we can help relieve your symptoms and get you back to your everyday activities.

Coming into hospital

Spire Cardiff Hospital is located a short distance from Junction 30 of the M4 and is well signposted. There’s free parking available for you and your visitors.

Meeting your consultant

Your appointment will take place in one of our 21 consultation rooms. Your consultant will discuss:

• Your symptoms and examine your abdomen and suspected hernia
• Your general health and medical history
• If they recommend any additional tests or scans to help plan your treatment
• Your treatment options and expected recovery timeline
• What inguinal hernia surgery involves and the potential benefits and risks
• The anaesthetic you’ll require – either a general anaesthetic (where you’ll be asleep) or a local or spinal anaesthetic (where you’ll be awake but unable to feel pain in the area being operated on)

You may also need a pre-operative assessment before you can proceed with surgery. This will be to ensure the procedure is suitable for you, especially if you need a general anaesthetic.

Your visit

You can usually leave hospital on the same day as your surgery. You may need to stay overnight if you have other medical conditions or live alone. If so, you’ll have one of our private rooms, which will have:

• TV
• Window
• Armchair
• En-suite

If you’re able to go home on the same day, you can relax in a private room until you’re ready to go home – usually for a few hours until the nursing team feel you're fit for discharge.

The operation

During the operation, you’ll have either:

• A general anaesthetic, meaning you’ll be asleep – usually required for keyhole (laparoscopic) procedures
• A spinal or local anaesthetic, meaning you’ll be awake but unable to feel anything in the region being operated on – this is usually used for open hernia repair surgery

Hernia repair surgery usually takes less than one hour.

After surgery

It’s normal to feel some pain or discomfort after hernia surgery, so to make your recovery easier, our nurses will give you medication to help you manage pain.

Going home

Your consultant will be able to advise you on your expected recovery time, based on the surgery you had and your overall health. For most people, you should be back to your usual activities in around six weeks. You’ll return for a check-up appointment with your consultant a few weeks after your operation.

Although everyone’s different and your consultant will be able to give you advice specific to you, here’s a typical recovery timeline: