Fate of the inguinal hernia following removal of infected prosthetic mesh

Open tension-free hernioplasty using a prosthetic mesh is a common operation for inguinal hernia repair because of the relative ease of the operation and low recurrence rate. Wound infection is a potential complication of all hernia repairs and deep-seated infection involving an inserted mesh may result in chronic groin sepsis which usually necessitates complete removal of mesh to produce resolution. Removal of mesh would potentially result in a weakness of the repair and subsequent hernia recurrence. We reviewed the outcome of all our patients who had mesh removal for sepsis over an 8-year period, particularly examining for hernia recurrence and chronic groin pain. This was a retrospective review of the database of patients who had mesh repair of inguinal hernias over an 8-year period. There were 2,139 inguinal hernias repaired using prosthetic mesh. All patients who had mesh removal for infection were identified and followed up. Fourteen patients had deep-seated wound infection which required mesh removal for resolution of sepsis. No peri-operative complications occurred during mesh removal. After a median follow-up of 44 months (range 5-91 months), there were two asymptomatic recurrences and none of the patients had chronic groin pain. Hernia recurrence is uncommon following mesh removal for chronic groin sepsis, suggesting that the strength of a mesh repair lies in the fibrous reaction evoked within the transversalis fascia by the prosthetic material rather than in the physical presence of the mesh itself. When there is established deep infection, there should be no unnecessary delay in removing an infected mesh in order to allow resolution of chronic groin sepsis.