POSTOPERATIVE PAIN;

Postoperative inguinal pain is one of the most significantcomplications following inguinal hernia repair. Routine ilioinguinal nerve excision has beenproposed as a means to avoid this complication. Objectives: To compare the postoperative painafter preservation and elective division of ilioinguinal nerve during inguinal hernioplasty.Methods: This was a Randomized Controlled Trial conducted at the department of generalsurgery at KVSS Site Hospital for a period of 6 months from Jun 2011 to Nov 2011. 84 patientswho underwent mesh hernioplasty for unilateral inguinal hernia, were randomly assigned into twogroups (A and B), 42 in each group. Ilioinguinal nerve was preserved in group A patients, whereaselective division was carried out in patients of group B. Mean postoperative pain scores wererecorded using numerical analogue scale on first and third postoperative day, and one monthafter surgery. The SPSS version 16 was applied to the data. Results: Mean±SD age was38.46±14.36 years. Seventy four (88.1%) patients were male whereas ten (11.9%) were female,with male to female ratio being 7:1. Using the numerical analogue scale to detect pain severity onpostsurgical day 1 and 3, mean scores±SD in the nerve-preservation and nerve-excision groupswere 2.88±0.43 versus 2.04±0.39, and 1.95±0.39 versus 1.43±0.44, respectively (p<0.05). At 1month after surgery, these scores were 1.73±0.62 versus 0.98±0.25, respectively (p<0.05).Conclusions: Postoperative pain after inguinal hernioplasty significantly decreases in electivedivision of ilioinguinal nerve as compared to nerve preservation.