ABSTRACT
Background: Inguinal hernia is a common condition dealt by surgeons in our country. It is said to be associated with increasing age, male gender, smoking, heavy weight lifting, abdominal wall weakness, connective tissue disorders and factors responsible for increased intra-abdominal pressure. Present study has been carried to find out relation of various risk factors associated with development of inguinal hernia in both gender, various age groups and its association with type of inguinal hernia in Bundelkhand region of India. Methods: This study was carried out on patients of primary inguinal hernia belonging to Bundelkhand region of India. Patients’ detailed history was taken for the presence of risk factors and they were thoroughly examined for other comorbidities too. Data were further classified in groups formed on the basis of patient age, gender, type of inguinal hernia viz. direct/ indirect hernia and presence of various risk factors. All the findings were tabulated and inferences were drawn followed by statistical comparison using chi-square test with p value <0.05 considered as significant. Relative risk for cases with controls were estimated by calculating the odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervals by univariate logistic regression. Results: In both gender, age group of 41-50 years had highest number of patients followed by age group of 31-40 years. Among 170 patients of primary inguinal hernia, males showed higher preponderance for direct as well as for indirect inguinal hernia than females. Inguinal hernia prevalence was higher on right side than left side in both gender. Most prevalent risk factors found present in our study group were heavy weight lifting (35.29%, OR=1.77), chronic cough (21.67%, OR=2.88), bowel disturbances (20.58%, OR=1.83) and tobacco use (20.58%,, OR=1.94). Conclusion: Inguinal hernias continue to be a source of morbidity and mortality in our country and globally. Its prevalence increases with advancing age in both gender and mostly on right side. Present study also shows that heavy weight lifting, chronic cough, bowel disturbances and tobacco use are associated with high occurrence of inguinal hernia among the genders and different age groups.
ABSTRACT
Background: Inguinal hernia is a common condition dealt by surgeons in our country. It is said to be asoociated with increasing age, male gender, smoking, connective tissue disorder and factors responsible for increased intraabdominal pressure. Development of inguinal hernia and its relation with body weight is controversial. So present study has been carried to find out relation of body mass index with development of inguinal hernia in both gender, various age groups and its association with type of inguinal hernia. Methods: This was a prospective study carried out on patients of primary inguinal hernia belonging to Bundelkhand region of India. Patients were categorized according to Body Mass Index (BMI) as normal weight (BMI=18.5-24.9), overweight (BMI=25–29.9), class 1 obese (BMI=30–34.9), and morbid obese i.e. class 2 & 3 obese (BMI≥35). Data were further classified in groups formed on the basis of BMI of patient versus age, gender of patients and type of inguinal hernia viz. direct/ indirect hernia. All the findings were tabulated and inferences were drawn followed by statistical comparison with the help of “Statistical Calculator v 4.0” using suitable test viz. chi-square test with p value <0.05 considered as significant. Results: Age groups ranging from 21 years up to 70 years had highest number of patients who were having normal weight (BMI =18.5-24.9). Among the male gender, highest number of patients belonged to BMI group of 18.5-24.9 (i.e. normal weight). Patient group with BMI of ≥ 35 (i.e. class 2 & 3 obese) had the least frequency distribution in males as well as in females. Among the patients of primary direct inguinal hernia and primary indirect inguinal hernia, patient group with BMI of 18.5-24.9 (normal weight) showed highest frequency and patient group with BMI ≥ 35 (class 2 & 3 obese) showed least frequency. Conclusion: Present study shows that in our study population, high Body mass index is not associated with high occurrence of inguinal hernia among the genders and different age groups, rather it seems to be protective for inguinal hernia