title: The long-term changes in pain-related symptomatology of inguinal hernia following 2 different herniorrhaphy techniques.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare the changes in pain-related symptoms of inguinal hernias from initial admission to postoperative month 6 following 2 herniorrhaphy techniques.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients with unilateral inguinal hernias were scheduled for either Lichtenstein or self-gripping polypropylene mesh repair. Patients were preoperatively evaluated with a visual analog scale (VAS) and a Turkish version ofthe Douleur Neuropathique 4 (DN4) questionnaire and the complaints related to pain were noted. After surgery, patients were discharged without early complications. Patients were reassessed at postoperative month 6. The late-term complaints of pain as well as neurological findings were evaluated using the VAS and the Turkish version of the DN4 questionnaire. Quality of life was also assessed with the Nottingham Health Profile (NHP).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thirty-four patients underwent conventional Lichtenstein repair and 19 patients underwent self-gripping polypropylene mesh repair. Even though decreases in VAS intensity scores for both hernia repair techniques were noted at postoperative month 6 when compared to the preoperative period, no significant changes were found in pain, VAS, total DN4, or NHP scores between groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Despite its ease of application and short time duration, self-gripping polypropylene mesh repair was not found to be superior to conventional Lichtenstein hernia repair in terms of reducing pain related to inguinal hernia.
authors: Salih Erpulat
authors: SE
authors: Öziş
authors: Işın
authors: I
authors: Ünal Çevik
authors: Hatim Yahya
authors: HY
authors: Uslu
authors: Süleyman
authors: S
authors: Özdemir
authors: Kamil
authors: K
authors: Gülpinar
authors: Hasan Turgut
authors: HT
authors: Aydin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D059350:Chronic Pain / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006552:Hernia, Inguinal / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D059685:Herniorrhaphy / Q000295:instrumentation*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010147:Pain Measurement; D010149:Postoperative Pain / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D013526:Surgical Mesh / Q000009:adverse effects*