Inguinal hernia developed after radical retropubic surgery for prostate cancer

In this retrospective study, we aimed to compare the clinical characteristics of inguinal hernia developed after radical retropubic surgery for prostate cancer to the hernia without previous radical prostatectomy.

Twenty-three patients (group A) who had radical retropubic surgery for prostate cancer underwent laparoscopic or open tension-free inguinal hernia repair from March 2007 to February 2011. Nine hundred and forty patients (group B) without previous radical retropubic surgery received laparoscopic or tension-free open hernia operation.

Group A was older than group B (mean ± standard deviation, 69.6 ± 7.2 vs. 54.1 ± 16.1; P < 0.001). Right side (73.9%) and indirect type (91.3%) in group A were more prevalent than in group B (51.5% and 69.4%, respectively) with statistic significance (P = 0.020 and P = 0.023). The rate of laparoscopic surgery in group B (n = 862, 91.7%) was higher than in group A (n = 14, 64.3%, P < 0.001). In comparing perioperative variables between the two groups, operative time (49.4 ± 23.5 minutes) and hospital stay (1.9 ± 0.7 days) in group A were longer than in group B (38.9 ± 16.9, 1.1 ± 0.2; P = 0.046 and P < 0.001, respectively) and pain score at 7 days in group A was higher than in group B (3.1 ± 0.7 vs. 2.3 ± 1.0, P < 0.001). Postoperative recurrence rate was not significantly different between the two groups.

Inguinal hernia following radical retropubic surgery for prostate cancer was predominantly right side and indirect type with statistic significance compared to hernias without previous radical prostatectomy.