RESUMO
Introduction: Postoperative inguinal pain is one of the most significant complications following inguinal hernia repair. Routine ilioinguinal nerve excision has been proposed as a means to avoid this complication
Objectives: To compare the postoperative pain after preservation and elective division of ilioinguinal nerve during inguinal hernioplasty
Methods: This was a Randomized Controlled Trial conducted at the department of general surgery at KVSS Site Hospital for a period of 6 months from Jun 2011 to Nov 2011. 84 patients who underwent mesh hernioplasty for unilateral inguinal hernia, were randomly assigned into two groups [A and B], 42 in each group. Ilioinguinal nerve was preserved in group A patients, whereas elective division was carried out in patients of group B. Mean postoperative pain scores were recorded using numerical analogue scale on first and third postoperative day, and one month after surgery. The SPSS version 16 was applied to the data
Results: Mean+/-SD age was 38.46+/-14.36 years. Seventy four [88.1%] patients were male whereas ten [11.9%] were female, with male to female ratio being 7:1. Using the numerical analogue scale to detect pain severity on postsurgical day 1 and 3, mean scores+/-SD in the nerve-preservation and nerve-excision groups were 2.88+/-0.43 versus 2.04+/-0.39, and 1.95+/-0.39 versus 1.43+/-0.44, respectively [p <0.05]. At 1 month after surgery, these scores were 1.73+/-0.62 versus 0.98+/-0.25, respectively [p <0.05]
Conclusions: Postoperative pain after inguinal hernioplasty significantly decreases in elective division of ilioinguinal nerve as compared to nerve preservation