title: Anaesthesia for elective inguinal hernia repair in rural Ghana - appeal for local anaesthesia in resource-poor countries.
abstract: Local anaesthesia has been identified as the most favourable anaesthesia for elective inguinal hernia repair with respect to complication rate, cost-effectiveness, and overall patient satisfaction. Operation theatre notes in all seven hospitals in the Northern Region in Ghana over the period of 1 year were reviewed. Only 22.4% out of 1038 repairs were performed under local anaesthesia while predominantly spinal and general anaesthesia were used (48.0 and 29.6%, respectively). African surgeons chose local anaesthesia far less frequently than visiting overseas surgeons (15.6 versus 27.7%, respectively). All surgeons in resource-poor countries should be encouraged to use local anaesthesia more frequently for elective inguinal hernia repair. Valuable resources in sub-Saharan African hospitals could be saved, especially if used in combination with outpatient surgery. The technique should be taught in teaching institutions. A simple step-by-step technique is described.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University Hospital Mannheim, Germany.
authors.forename: T J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Wilhelm
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Anemana
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kyamanywa
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rennie
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Post
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Freudenberg
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000772:Anesthesia, Local / Q000379:methods*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003906:Developing Countries; D017558:Elective Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006552:Hernia, Inguinal / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012424:Rural Population