Case-control study of patient satisfaction with day-case and inpatient inguinal hernia repair

A case-control study has been carried out to assess patient satisfaction with day-case or inpatient inguinal hernia repair using matched pairs of patients undergoing the same technique of inguinal hernia repair under general anaesthesia. Patients completed a single-page questionnaire 3-6 months after surgery. Although there was no objective difference in recovery, nearly half of the patients felt that they were discharged too early and the majority would prefer inpatient treatment. Day-case patients required significantly more medical attention after discharge and most of the reported wound complications were not known to the hospital. It is concluded that the introduction of day-case surgery in a district general hospital is not without problems and requires changes in working practices and resource availability with careful monitoring of outcome during its implementation.