Chronic groin pain following lichtenstein mesh hernioplasty for inguinal hernia. Is it a myth?

The Lichtenstein mesh hernioplasty is currently the most popular operative technique for open repair of inguinal hernia. The incidence of chronic groin pain (CGP) following this procedure is reported to be high. However, since our experience did not support this observation, this study was undertaken at our centre, to assess the incidence of CGP following Lichtenstein mesh hernioplasty.

A prospective study was conducted on all patients undergoing elective hernia repair at a tertiary care teaching hospital. The patients underwent Lichtenstein mesh hernioplasty and were followed up for the primary outcome measures of development of recurrence and Chronic Groin Pain.

A total of 470 patients were enrolled for the study. Out of these 16 patients never reported for follow up after discharge from hospital. The remaining 454 patients with 510 primary inguinal hernias were included in the study. Of these 449 patients were male and 5 were female. The mean follow-up period was 14 months (range - six months to twenty four months). One patient had recurrence of hernia and CGP was reported in four patients. In all four patients CGP was mild and was well controlled with oral NSAIDS used on SOS basis.

The incidence of CGP in our study is 0.78% for the number of operated hernias. This is not only considerably less than what is generally reported but is also less disabling.