Postoperative comfort after plug-and-patch repair of recurrent inguinal hernia

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate postoperative comfort after the plug-and-patch repair. Design: Prospective observational study. Setting: University hospital, Germany. Subjects: From July 1995 until August 2000, 93 consecutive patients with recurrent inguinal hernia were operated on using the plug-and-patch technique. Main outcome measures: Postoperative comfort assessed by pain (visual analogue score), analgesic requirements, duration of hospital stay, and restriction of daily activities. Results: Postoperative pain decreased continuously from the morning of the first postoperative day (median VAS: 5.4; range 1.2-6.9) until day 13 (VAS < 1). The median amount of analgesics given to the patients for 4 days was dipyrone 5.2 g (range 2.1-8.4). Median duration of hospital stay was 5 (2-14) days, limitation of daily activities 6 days (range 3-17) and 34 patients who were employed had returned to work after 21 days (range 8-42). Conclusions: Plug-and-patch repair offers a high degree of comfort to patients with recurrent inguinal hernia.