Quality of life following Shouldice Repair: a prospective cohort study among inguinal hernia patients

The aim of this study was to evaluate quality of life from the preoperative time to six months after surgery of patients who underwent a Shouldice Repair for primary inguinal hernia.

After ethical approval, consent was obtained, and data collected from surveys and chart review. The study population was composed of male and female patients aged 16-90 years of age, who had a Shouldice Repair of a primary unilateral inguinal hernia. The EQ-5D-3L, a questionnaire applied to hernia surgery in Canada, was used to determine quality of life at the preoperative and 1 week, 1- and 6-month postoperative time. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, as well as inferential analysis.

From January 2023 to February 2024, 532 participants met the criteria, completed and returned the preoperative survey, and underwent primary inguinal hernia repair. The participants were mostly male (94%) with an average age of 62.18 years and BMI of 24.93 kg/m². The EQ-5D-3L health index scores and EQ-VAS health status at preoperative were 0.83 ± 0.13 and 79.5 ± 12.59. At the 1-month postoperative time, health index scores and health status had significantly increased from preoperative (score:0.91 ± 0.12, p = .001; status 83.56 ± 12.93, p = .001), and continued to significantly increase from baseline at the 6-month postoperative time (score:0.95 ± 0.10, p = .001; status:85.25 ± 12.17, p < .001).

Quality of life, as measured by the ED-5D-3L health index score, significantly improved for patients that underwent a Shouldice Repair for an inguinal hernia.