How long do patients convalescence after inguinal herniorrhaphy? Current principles and practice

Over the course of this century it has become apparent that there is no longer any rationale behind the old-established advice to rest for several weeks after hernia repair. It was our impression that such advice continues to be widely accepted, and we therefore sent questionnaires to 100 recently appointed consultant surgeons, 400 of their patients and 200 recently established partners in general practice to assess current practices. Our findings show that surgeons advised a mean of 4.4 weeks off work and GPs 6.2 weeks off-work, in both cases the period varying with the nature of the patient's occupation. Patients actually took a mean of 7.0 weeks off work. The wide variation reflects the lack of evidence that an early return to work after hernia repair causes any detrimental effect. We believe that this should be explained to patients, who should be free to return to work as soon as they feel comfortable. Such a policy could substantially decrease the current loss of productivity.