[Cremaster resection in Shouldice repair. A prospective controlled bicenter study]

The aim of this prospective controlled trial was to determine the value of the resection of the cremaster muscle in Shouldice's hernia repair. 237 Shouldice operations with resection of the cremaster muscle of the Department of Surgery of the RWTH of Aachen were compared with 153 Shouldice repairs without resection of the cremaster muscle of the Department of Surgery of the Elisabeth Hospital in Essen. A comparable follow-up of 12 to 26 months in both groups revealed no significant differences in postoperative complications. In the group without resection of the cremaster muscle four indirect recurrent hernias were diagnosed. In the group with resection of the cremaster muscle no indirect recurrent hernia was detected, only one direct recurrent hernia was documented. The significantly elevated rate of recurrent hernias (p less than 0.05) and the occurrence of atypical indirect recurrent hernias in the group without resection of the cremaster muscle demonstrate the important influence on the technique of repair. Based on our results the resection of the cremaster muscle in an essential part of Shouldice's hernia repair.