Inguinal Hernia Surgery: a patient centered approach

Abstract

The introduction of surgical mesh to create a tension free repair in inguinal hernia surgery in the 1990s, was quickly implemented worldwide, because recurrence rates dropped dramatically. Debate on the best surgical approach for this tension-free mesh repair is ongoing . The first part of this thesis presents outcomes on endoscopic mesh repair compared to open mesh repair of inguinal hernia. Our research focused mainly on postoperative pain and other quality of life related outcomes. Chronic postoperative inguinal pain (CPIP) is the current most common complication after inguinal hernia repair. In the second part of this thesis we focused on CPIP. Studies on risk factors for CPIP are presented together with a score-chart to predict patient’s individual risk on CPIP.