Repair of Inguinal Hernia in an Ambulatory Way

Introduction: the surgical treatment of inguinal hernia has increased in the last decade and its prevalence is not known.

Objective: to evaluate the results of ambulatory surgical treatment of this Entity, describe the population, techniques and complications, from January 2009 to December 2018.

Methods: an observational, descriptive and prospective study of 760 patients with the diagnosis of inguinal hernia was performed, which were operated on an outpatient basis in the General Teaching Hospital “Enrique Cabrera” since January from 2009 to December 2018. Emergency operated patients were excluded.

Results: the highest incidence of inguinal hernia was found between the ages of 60 and 80 years. Indirect right inguinal hernia appeared more frequently. Desarda’s anatomic surgical technique was the most applied in 410 (54%) of the cases and Lichtenstein’s hernioplasty with 224 (29.4%) followed in frequency. There was a total of 5 (0.6%) recurrences. Local anesthesia was applied in 609 (90.8%) of the patients, on an outpatient basis they were 100%. The total complications were 31 (4.0%).

Conclusions: surgical treatment of inguinal hernia on an outpatient basis is an appropriate process. It creates comfort in patients, decreases the risk of hospital infection, reduces waiting lists and hospital costs.

Keywords: inguinal hernia; Outpatient treatment; hospital costs.