A simplified technique for giant inguinal hernia repair in infants

Repair of giant inguino-scrotal hernia (GISH) in male infants is a difficult operation, even in experienced hands. It requires an immaculate technique to avoid known complications such as tearing of the sac, injury to delicate testicular vessels and dividing of vas deferens. Moreover, a recurrence rate of 9% is noted in a number of reports. This article describes a new surgical maneuver to simplify the procedure. All GISH repaired by the author, over a 5-year period (October 2001-September 2006), were reviewed retrospectively. In total, 89 infants with 106 GISH underwent uni- or bilateral herniotomies. A standard inguinal incision is made and Scarpa's fascia is sharply opened; the external inguinal ring and the cord is identified. By gentle manipulation and blunt dissection, the spermatic cord together with the testis is exteriorized. The assistant applies gentle traction to the cord, which allows for easy identification of the inguinal sac and its subsequent separation from vas and vessels. Testis is replaced in the scrotum, hernial sac suture ligated at its base and the wound closed in layers. All cases were managed with the above approach. The average length of the procedure was 11 min for unilateral and 19 min for bilateral cases. Except for minimal scrotal swelling post-operatively, no other surgery-related complications were noted during or immediately after the operation. Testicular atrophy or iatrogenic undescended testes were not encountered in the follow-up period. Ipsilateral recurrent hernia was noted in one infant after 6 months which required re-operation with the same technique. In cases of GISH; dislocating the testis into the wound and applying a gentle stretch on the cord allows for a safe dissection of the hernial sac and subsequent herniotomy. This maneuver converts a difficult procedure into a relatively simple one.