BMJ  2004;329:1315-1316 (4 December), doi:10.1136/bmj.38282.675556.F7 (published 16 November 2004)

Paper

Surgical management of inguinal hernia: retrospective cohort study in southeastern Scotland, 1985-2001

H D E Atkinson, specialist registrar1, S G Nicol, specialist registrar2, S Purkayastha, senior house officer3, S Paterson-Brown, consultant4

1 Charing Cross Hospital, London W6 8RF Department of Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery, 2 Department of Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery, Bristol Royal Infirmary, 3 Department of General Surgery, St Mary's Hospital, London, 4 Department of Surgery, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh

Correspondence to: H D E Atkinson duscha@hotmail.com

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Introduction

Inguinal hernia repair (IHR) is the most common general surgical procedure in the United Kingdom, with an estimated 80 000 cases a year. The past decade has seen an increase in the use of prosthetic mesh in open and laparoscopic hernia repair based on the premise of a tension-free repair.1 Conversely, although traditional repair with suturing using the Shouldice technique has been reported with low rates of recurrence, it is difficult to learn and often associated with high rates of recurrence when done in the wider community. Recent reports have indicated that laparoscopic repair is associated with less immediate postoperative pain and a faster return to normal activities, particularly for recurrent and bilateral hernias.2 Large case series indicate recurrence rates for open and laparoscopic mesh repairs as low as 0.2%,3 and randomised trials of open primary IHR, with follow up as short as two years, have consistently found fewer recurrences . . . [Full text of this article]

Participants, methods, and results

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