Physiological repair of inguinal hernia: a new technique (study of 860 patients)

The author has developed a new operation technique based on the physiological principle that provides dynamic posterior wall for inguinal hernia repair. Results of the first series of 400 patients were published in 2001 (ANZ J Surg 71:241-244, 2001). Now the author has described the results of the second series of 860 patients having 920 hernias with follow-up for more than 7 years. An undetached strip of the external oblique aponeurosis (EOA) is sutured to the inguinal ligament below and the muscle arch above, behind the cord, to form a new posterior wall. External oblique muscle gives additional strength to the weakened muscle arch to keep this strip physiologically dynamic. In this prospective study, 920 inguinal hernia repairs were performed between August 1990 and December 2003 in 860 patients. Follow-up was done for 7 years. The main outcome measure was early and late morbidities and especially recurrence in a long-term follow-up. Mean patient age was 50.5 years (range 18-90). A total of 851 (98.95%) patients were operated under local or regional anesthesia; 838 (97.4%) patients were ambulatory with limited movements in 6 h and free movements in 18-24 h; 792 (92%) patients had a hospital stay of one night and 840 (97.6%) patients returned to normal activities within 1-2 weeks. Hematoma formation requiring drainage was observed in one patient, while seven patients had wound edema during the postoperative period which subsided on its own. Follow-up was completed in 623 patients (72.5 %) by clinical examination or questionnaire. The median follow-up period was 7.8 years (range 1-12 years). There was no recurrence of hernia or postoperative neuralgia. This operation is simple to perform, does not require foreign body like a mesh or complicated dissection of the inguinal floor as in Bassini/Shouldice. It has shown excellent results with virtually zero recurrence rates.