SIMULTANEOUS REPAIR OF BILATERAL INGUINAL HERNIAS

Abstract

To investigate the treatment value of simultaneous repair of bilateral inguinal hernias compared with unilateral hernias.

Bilateral inguinal hernia consists of 12% of all inguinal hernias. Simultaneous repair of bilateral inguinal hernia has been controversial since Bassini repair was described.

In this study, 452 inguinal hernias (407 unilateral and 45 bilateral) were included between July 1998 and July 2002. Simultaneous bilateral inguinal hernia repair was compared with unilateral hernia repair in terms of length of hospital stay, time of return to normal activity, surgical site infection, urinary retention and recurrence with Mann Whitney-U test and chi square test.

Mean follow-up was 27 (range: 2-50) months. There was no difference between simultaneous bilateral hernia repair and unilateral hernia repair in terms of length of hospital stay and time of return to normal activity with Mann Whitney-U test and in terms of surgical site infection and recurrence with chi square test (p>0.05). Urinary retention was significantly higher in the simultaneous bilateral hernia repair group as compared with the unilateral hernia repair group (p<0.05).

Simultaneous repair of bilateral inguinal hernias does not lead to a significant increase in morbidity and it is safe and cost effective.