[Epidemiologic study of inguinal hernia in Kauta, Kasonogo zone, Zaire]

In the male population of Kauta, suburb of Kasongo city, Zaïre, a survey has been carried out to detect the magnitude of the inguinal hernia problem, the risk factors of the herniae and of their main complication: the strangulation of the hernia. Among the 364 people examined, 86 (= 24%) resulted positive to inguinal hernia and/or postoperative scars. The age of onset was determined from prevalence data. Age is a risk factor of the incidence of the herniae. The right inguinal canal has a higher risk for developing a hernia and for strangulation of that hernia than the left one. Tribe and labour characteristics were not associated with hernial occurrence. 80% of the patients declared that in the previous 12 months they had suffered from one or more episodes of hernial strangulation and that those episodes were successfully treated by indigenous techniques. This absolutely surprising figure needs to be verified and merits further study.