Long-term follow-up of 1059 consecutive primary and recurrent inguinal hernias in a teaching hospital

Objective: To study the early and late outcome of various methods of inguin al hernia repair. Design. Retrospective study. Setting: Teaching hospital, Norway. Subjects: 1059 repairs of inguinal hernias in men and women by 43 surgeons. Interventions: Analysis of patients charts, results of questionnaires conce rning 712 hernias (67%) and follow-up consultations when needed. Main outcome measures: Freedom from recurrence and postoperative groin symp toms after repairs of primary and recurrent hernias. Results: After a median follow-up of 5.5 years, range 3-8, the recurrence r ate was 8% for primary repairs and 29% after recurrent hernias. The inciden ce of permanent pain or discomfort was unexpectedly high, being 11% after p rimary repairs and 15% after recurrent hernia repairs. Conclusions: The number of recurrences at long-term follow-up after repairs of primary and recurrent inguinal hernias was unsatisfactory. The extent o f postoperative pain was surprising as this was not given enough attention during the learning period. We have introduced a uniform treatment policy w ith a prospective surveillance programme with the aim of improving results in our teaching programme.