Inguinal Hernia Repair under Local Anesthesia in Octogenarians

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: We are to describe the clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes in patients aged between 80 and 89 years who underwent inguinal hernia repair under local anesthesia. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients aged between 20 and 89 years who underwent tension free hernia repair under local anesthesia by a single surgeon between June 2001 and January 2009 and compared clinical characteristics and outcomes between octogenarians who were the eldest and sexagenarians whose incidence was the highest. RESULTS: Of the 514 patients, the number of octogenarians was 52 (8.6%) and sexagenarians were 225 (35.0%). Body mass index (BMI) was 22.5 kg/m2 in octogenarians and 23.7 kg/m2 in sexagenarians (P=0.003). Underlying diseases were present in 67.3% of octogenarians and 73.5% of sexagenarians (P=0.238). The incidence of liver disease was significantly lower in the octogenarians (1.9% vs 15.7%, P=0.004). The proportion of patients who underwent local anesthesia was significantly higher among the octogenarians (94.5% vs 82.2%, P=0.014). Operative time and postoperative hospital stay had no significant difference between both groups. Postoperative complications developed in 4 (7.7%) of the octogenarians and in 18 (9.7%) of the sexagenarians. Scrotal swelling was developed most frequently and surgery-related mortality did not developed in both groups. CONCLUSION: If local anesthesia is used appropriately, inguinal hernia repair in octogenarians is a safe procedure as like in sexagenarians and may reduce the psychiatric burden related to complications for both surgeons and elderly patients.