Chaitanya, DK; Srihari, D

Background: Inguinal hernia repair using mesh is one of the most frequently performed operations in general surgery. We evaluated pain, recurrence, complications such as wound infection, mesh infection, return to work and length of hospital stay after hernia repair using standard mesh. Materials and methods: A prospective clinical study was conducted with standard polypropylene mesh repair of a hernia. Data were collected from admission till discharge from the hospital, one month, two months and three months after surgery. At each visit clinical examination and ultrasound was done to evaluate chronic persisting inguinal pain and recurrences. Results: A total of 80 patients underwent tension free hernia repair with standard mesh. There were 36 males and 44 females. The mean age of the patients was 54±8.2 years. The average duration of stay in the hospital was 5.2±1.4 days. 4/80 (5%) had wound infection, 2/80 (2.5%) had mesh infection and only 7/80 (10%) had recurrent pain after one year. Conclusion: In our study, low recurrence rates, early return to work and a low percentage of persistent pain suggest that open repair with standardised mesh for hernia repair remains a good option for the low-income group patients. Additionally, it is easy to perform, inexpensive and can be done under local anesthesia.