Seafarers and hernia

Seafarers and hernia
Dennis Gorecho - February 21, 2019 https://www.panaynews.net/seafarers-and-hernia/

HERNIA is one of the more common seafarer’s illnesses as lifting heavy weight is a normal part of daily routine on board the vessel.

A five-year study by Dr. Nicomedes Cruz, a Manila-based surgeon, of the causes of medical repatriation among Filipino seafarers revealed that inguinal hernia ranked fifth as the most common illness out of the 5,315 seafarers studied.

Inguinal hernias occur when the intestines push through a weak spot or tear in the lower abdominal wall, often in the inguinal canal. The inguinal canal is found in your groin. In men, it’s the area where the spermatic cord passes from the abdomen to the scrotum. This cord holds up the testicles. In women, the inguinal canal contains a ligament that helps hold the uterus in place.

This type of hernia is more common in men than women. This is because a man’s testicles descend through the inguinal canal shortly after birth, and the canal is supposed to close almost completely behind them. Sometimes, the canal doesn’t close properly and leaves a weakened area prone to hernias.

Hernias are caused by a combination of muscle weakness and strain. Depending on its cause, a hernia can develop quickly or over a long period of time.

Factors that strain your body and may cause a hernia, especially if your muscles are weak, include being constipated, which causes you to strain when having a bowel movement or lifting heavy weight.

Serious complications from a hernia can result from the trapping of tissues in the hernia – a process called incarceration. Trapped or incarcerated tissues may have their blood supply cut off, leading to damage or death of the tissue, which could result in a dangerous infection or even death.

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) contract governs the compensation and benefits for the work-related injury or illness that a seafarer on board sea-going vessels may have suffered during the term of his employment contract.

The seafarer is required to prove that:

(1) he suffered an illness;
(2) he suffered this illness during the term of his employment contract;
(3) he complied with the procedures prescribed under Section 20-B;
(4) his illness is one of the enumerated occupational diseases or that his illness or injury is otherwise work-related; and
(5) he complied with the four conditions enumerated under Section 32-A for an occupational disease or a disputably-presumed work-related disease to be compensable.

A seafarer’s hernia will be compensable if all of the following conditions are met:

(a) the hernia should be of recent origin;
(b) its appearance was accompanied by pain, discoloration and evidence of a tearing of the tissues; and
(c) the disease was immediately preceded by undue or severe strain arising out of and in the course of employment; a protrusion of mass should appear in the area immediately following the alleged strain.

It is not sufficient to simply establish that the seafarer’s illness or injury has rendered him permanently or partially disabled; it must also be shown that there is a causal connection between the seafarer’s illness or injury and the work for which he had been contracted.