Recurrence Rates After Repair of Inguinal Hernia in Women: A Systematic Review

To our knowledge, a systematic review has not yet been performed that specifically addresses the management of inguinal hernia in women. Recurrence after repair of inguinal hernia is not unusual in women and may be a previously undiagnosed femoral hernia, which is rarely seen in men.

To investigate rates and types of recurrences in women who had undergone repair of primary inguinal hernia.

PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane databases were searched in September 2017 for studies reporting recurrences after repair of primary inguinal hernia in women. Crude rates of recurrence (number of recurrences/number of women) were calculated after open and laparoscopic repairs, and the type of recurrent hernia was registered, if noted in the studies. This review is reported according to the PRISMA guideline.

A total of 55 studies were included, comprising 43 870 women (mean age, 42-69 years; median age, 57 years). Five studies were randomized clinical trials, 14 were prospective cohort studies, 7 were prospective database studies, and 29 were retrospective cohort studies. Twenty studies reported recurrence after laparoscopic repair, with a crude recurrence rate of 1.2% (27 of 2257) (range, 0%-5%) and a median follow-up of 24 months. Thirty-seven studies reported open repair, with a crude recurrence rate of 2.4% (818 of 33 971) (range, 0%-12.5%) and a median follow-up of 36 months. The crude recurrence rate in randomized clinical trials and prospective studies was 1.2% (18 of 1525) after laparoscopic repair compared with 4.9% (490 of 10 058) after open repair. The recurrent inguinal hernia was a femoral hernia in 203 of 496 patients (40.9%) after open repair, compared with 0% of patients after laparoscopic repair. Recurrence rates were similar when open mesh vs nonmesh techniques were used.

Recurrence rates after repair of primary inguinal hernia in women are lower after laparoscopic repair compared with open repair. Intraoperative findings during repair of recurrent inguinal hernia are often femoral hernias in women.