Surgical treatment for chronic postoperative inguinal pain-short term outcomes of a specialized center

Chronic postoperative inguinodynia is a challenging long-term complication after inguinal hernia repair. Surgery may be an option for patients who are refractory to non-operative measures. We aim to evaluate the short-term outcomes of surgical treatment for chronic inguinodynia at our institution.

Consecutive patients undergoing surgical treatment for chronic groin pain were identified in a prospectively maintained database. Outcomes included operative details, intra- and postoperative complications, pain scores, and patient satisfaction.

29 patients were included in the study. All patients were refractory to multimodal pain management. The median pain score on presentation was 8 (IQR 7-10), and after a median follow-up of 6 months (IQR 4-11), there was a statistically significant reduction in pain scores (median 2, IQR 2-6, p < 0.001). Fifty-five percent of patient were pain free or almost pain free and 93 percent reported they would undergo the same operation again.

Chronic groin pain is a complex problem with no universal solution. In our experience, surgical treatment significantly decreased short-term pain scores.