Safety of daycare hernia repair in Jos, Nigeria

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the safety of day surgery for inguinal hernia. Design: A randomised prospective study of patients presenting for elective inguinal hernia repair. Setting: Jos University Teaching, Jos, Nigeria. Subjects: One hundred and twenty one patients who completed a six-week follow up period. Interventions: Sixty one patients had elective hernia repair as daycares while 60 patients were treated as inpatients. Forty six herniotomies and seventy five herniorrhaphies were performed under local or general anaesthesia. Main outcome measures: Early post-operative complications, including wound complications were evaluated. Results: Early post-operative complications occurred in two of the 61 daycares and 15 of 60 inpatients (p=0.002). There were twelve and ten wound complications in daycares and inpatients respectively (p = 0.668). There was no mortality. Conclusion: Outpatient elective inguinal hernia repair in carefully selected patients is relatively safe in our environment.