Inguinal hernia: obligatory indication for elective surgery? A prospective assessment of quality of life before and after plug and patch inguinal hernia repair.
BACKGROUND
Incarcerated inguinal hernia may be treated effectively by recent surgical techniques with a low rate of complications, but it is unclear whether quality of life is improved by elective inguinal hernia repair. Therefore we investigated the quality of life before and after inguinal hernia repair using plug and patch technique.


METHODS
Quality of life was prospectively assessed in 123 patients before and 3 months after plug and patch inguinal hernia repair using the Short Form 36 questionaire and a visual analog scale. All patients complained preoperatively of pain associated with the clinical findings of inguinal hernia (visual analog scale: reduced quality of life 6.8+/-2.7; reduced daily activity: 5.5+/-2.6). Clinical characteristics (operation times, in-hospital stay, complications, need for pain medication) were documented. Inclusion criteria were patients with symptomatic inguinal hernia, scheduled for elective unilateral inguinal hernia repair by plug and patch technique.


RESULTS
There were no major in-hospital complications. At 3 months no recurrences of inguinal hernia or late onset complications were observed; seven patients complained of dumbness, and eight felt pressure at the operation site with a tendency for resolving pain within this time. At 3 months patients had a significantly improved quality of life regarding freedom from pain, vitality, and physical activity compared to preoperatively.


CONCLUSIONS
Plug and patch repair of unilateral inguinal hernia improves quality of life with a very low rate of procedural complications. Regarding freedom from pain, vitality, and physical activity there is significant improvement as compared to preoperatively. Therefore inguinal hernia repair should be intended in all elective cases and plug and patch repair appears as an excellent technique to improve quality of life.
Zieren
Jürgen
J
Department of General, Visceral, Vascular, and Thoracic Surgery, Charité Campus Mitte, Humboldt University of Berlin, Schumannstrasse 20/21, 10117, Berlin, Germany. juergen.zieren@charite.de
Küpper
Frank
F
Paul
Marco
M
Neuss
Heiko
H
Müller
Jochen M
JM
D000368:Aged; D017558:Elective Surgical Procedures; D005260:Female; D006552:Hernia, Inguinal / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010147:Pain Measurement; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome