Day-case surgery for inguinal hernia: a multi-specialist private hospital experience in Nigeria

The growing popularity of day-case surgery derives mainly from its twin benefits of convenience and cost-effectiveness. It is particularly useful in treating inguinal hernia which remains one of the most common presenting surgical problems.

To evaluate the results of inguinal herniotomy or herniorrhaphy done as a day-case.

A cross-sectional study of 72 cases of inguinal hernia treated by day-case herniotomy or herniorrhaphy at Havana Specialist Hospital, Lagos, Nigeria between July 2002 and June 2004. Post-operative follow up ranged from 2 to 4 years. Patients with concurrent systemic illness that needed admission as well as those who preferred admission were excluded. Data including age, gender, hernia characteristics, type of anaesthesia, complications and outcomes were collected and analysed.

A total of 72 cases were studied. Only 4 were females, the remaining 68 were males. Ages 6 months to 60 years were affected with a mean age of 26.7 years and a peak incidence in the 21-30 years age group. The commonest complication was pain felt post-operatively by 62.5% of the study population. However, wound infection (seen in 11.2%) was the most significant complication. Other complications were wound and scrotal haematoma (8.3%), hemia recurrence (1.4%) and hypertrophic scar (1.4%). No mortality was recorded.

The study showed that post-operative pain is the commonest complication of day-case inguinal hemiotomy and herniorrhaphy. Wound infection was however the most common significant complication. The overall outcome was good.