Pain after inguinal hernia repair. Possible role of bowel preparation

To evaluate the possible effectiveness of bowel preparation on pain after hernia repair.

This was a prospective randomized study, performed at King Fahad Hospital, Hofuf, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia between January 2000 and December 2002. The group of patient was randomly divided in 2 groups. Sixty-two patients (Group I) had bowel preparation and 65 patients (Group II) had no bowel preparation. All patients in the Group 1 received lactulose 2 days before surgery and rectal enema on the day of surgery. Patients were assessed at 8 hours interval in the hospital. They were assessed for the severity of pain during the first micturation and bowel motion.

The pain score in the first 24 hours was significantly lower in the Group 1 (p<0.01) as well as second 24 hours (p<0.001). The pain in the first micturation (p<0.001) and during the first bowel motion (p<0.001) was less in Group I compared to Group II.

Patients with bowel preparation before hernia repair had significantly less pain postoperatively even in the first micturation as well as the first bowel motion than those without bowel preparation.