Comparison between general and local anaesthesia for repair of groin hernias

A prospective study of 104 cases has been carried out to compare the use of local and general anaesthesia for the elective repair of groin hernias. There were no apparent disadvantages in using a local anaesthetic procedure. Patients having local anaesthetic herniorrhaphy required postoperative analgesics and antiemetics significantly less often and also returned home sooner (3.2 days) than patients having a general anaesthetic (4.1 days). These findings argue strongly in favour of local anaesthesia as a suitable alternative to general anaesthesia for repair of groin hernias.