[Short hospital stay, a step towards ambulatory surgery for hernia repair in 1990?]

In the first part the authors report their experience in Hernia surgery from 1980 to 1989. The comparison between 4 personal series shows that local anesthesia favoured short hospital stay, that the length of hospital stay decreased from 95% of more than 7 days hospitalization to 49% of less than 2 days; local anesthesia has almost suppressed post-anesthetic functional, respiratory and urinary troubles; no patient operated under local died; lastly the recurrence rate has not been related to hospital stay duration. Comments follow on Ambulatory surgery in general, technical and deontological principles. Ambulatory and short stay hospitalization in Hernia Surgery, and on advantages and pitfalls of these type of Surgery. The authors conclude on the feasibility, acceptability, benefits and usefulness of to day ambulatory surgery in hernia repair in the frame of a Universitary Hospital Center.