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A PROSPECTIVE AUDIT OF LICHTENSTEIN'TENSION‐FREE HERNIORRHAPHY IN TARANAKI, NEW ZEALAND
Author(s) -
HulmeMoir M.,
Kyle S.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
australian and new zealand journal of surgery
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.111
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 1445-2197
pISSN - 0004-8682
DOI - 10.1111/j.1445-2197.1998.tb04681.x
Subject(s) - medicine , surgery , audit , prospective cohort study , inguinal hernia , general surgery , complication , hernia , management , economics
Background : This study was undertaken to assess the outcome of Lichtenstein'tension‐free mesh inguinal herniorrhaphy as practised by surgeons in a provincial centre in Taranaki, New Zealand. Methods : A prospective audit was carried out on all patients who underwent this procedure in Taranaki. They were followed up at 1 month and again at 1 year. Results were entered on a standardized pro forma. Results : One hundred and twenty‐four patients underwent 134 repairs by four different surgeons and their registrars. Eighty‐two per cent of them had a general anaesthetic, and 13% had local anaesthestic. Twenty‐five per cent of the repairs were performed as day surgery and a further 53% required overnight stays. Complication rates were 6% in hospital, 12.7% at 1 month and 8% at 1 year. Recurrence occurred in one repair (0.9%) and there were no cases of mesh rejection. The wound infection rate was 3% and all were minor. Only 45% of the patients who had an inguinal herniorrhaphy were employed and they took an average of 16 days (range 2–30) to return to work. Over half felt that that they could have returned to normal activities within 2 weeks. Conclusions : The Lichtenstein technique of inguinal herniorrhaphy is a technically simple, reliable procedure with minimal morbidity and patients may expect a reasonably prompt return to work and to normal activities.