[Bilateral hernioplasty: sonographic study of prosthetic integration as a function of fixation to the hernia opening]

The Authors report in this paper the outcomes of a post-operative study based on echo and echo-color imaging in 10 patients who underwent surgery for bilateral groin hernia. On both sides the operation was performed with a "patch and plug" implantation, according to the Rutkow technique. On right sides the polypropilene mesh was fixed to the inguinal orifice with cardinal stitches, while on left sides the mesh was shaped and spreaded on the orifice without any fixation. The U.S. postoperative pictures, performed up to 30 th p.o. day, showed a better stretching of the unfixed meshs, probably owed to a better adapting capability of the free mesh inside the tissues in standing position. The Authors consider significative the correlation between images showing in 7 patient's right sides little irregularities in mesh display, with presence of thin liquid filled spaces, and the moderate postoperative pain, that occurred in the same side in 6 of them.