Preperitoneal repair of inguinal hernia at open radical prostatectomy

Patients undergoing prostatectomy for cancer are at risk for onset/worsening of inguinal hernia (IH). Preperitoneal inguinal hernia repair (IHR) concurrent with radical prostatectomy (RP) should be considered. Dissection of the preperitoneal space at RP provides an ideal opportunity for the repair of inguinal hernia. We describe our efforts with patients undergoing RP and IHR to determine whether this approach is safe.

Records of patients undergoing RP and simultaneous IHR were identified from a prospective prostatectomy database from 1995 to 2007. Clinical hernia presentation, repair techniques, operative time, and complications were recorded.

During the study period, 4,311 RPs were performed at our institution. Of these, 108 patients (2.5%) had 141 simultaneous IHRs. The mean patient age was 61 years (range 45-79), with an average body mass index (BMI) of 27.5 (range 19-37.6). Most patients underwent repair of a unilateral IH (n = 75; 69%) and 33 patients (31%) had a bilateral repair. The operative time was a median of 224 min in patients undergoing simultaneous IHR compared with 180 min in patients undergoing RP only. Records of the time required for IHR were available for 21 patients undergoing unilateral repair and for 18 patients undergoing bilateral repair. The median times for unilateral and bilateral IHR were 42 and 33 min, respectively. Only one patient had postoperative complications (perineal discomfort, bilateral neuralgia/paresthesia) possibly related to IHR. There were no wound infections in patients undergoing simultaneous hernia repair. Of the 141 IH repairs, four recurrent hernias (2.8%) required reoperation at a median of 16 months following initial repair.

In our experience, preperitoneal IHR at the time of RP should be strongly considered, as it is not associated with an increased risk of complications and adds less than an hour of additional operative time to RP alone.