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Evaluation of inguinal hernia repair using post-operative pain and quality of life metrics

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Abstract

Background and purpose

Elective inguinal hernia repair is a ubiquitous procedure that carries risks; chronic pain and impacts on quality of life (QoL) must be considered when advising patients around repair. The length of time from surgery date and impacts on quality of life are often limited to only a few years of follow-up and despite hernia repair being quite common, long-term outcomes are not often reported.

Methods

A cohort of patients who had received Lichtenstein inguinal hernia repair over the previous 10 years were contacted and surveyed using the Brief Pain Inventory Short Form (BPI) to assess chronic pain and its effects on their QoL. Patient and operative factors were correlated with pain through linear regression and t-test analysis provided statistical significance for mean comparisons (P < 0.05).

Results

The rate of chronic pain was 17.2% with recurrence of 3.1% at an average post-operative interval of 5.84 years. Of the various metrics compared between groups, age was one of the only significant predictors of chronic pain with younger patients reporting higher pain. Further time from surgery also translated to significantly less pain with a difference of 1.3 years. BPI respondents identified pain that interfered to varying degrees in different aspects of life but had relatively low average magnitudes (range: 1.82/10–2.91/10).

Conclusions

These long-term considerations of post-surgical impact should be considered alongside potential benefits when advising patients about surgery and may help moderate post-operative expectations to optimize the outcome of common inguinal hernia repairs.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the participants who elected to be part of this study and to the UBC Faculty of Medicine for educational resource and support. There was no external funding source associated with this study.

Funding

This project was funded by the clinical lead. The authors state there are no potential conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Medicine, The University of British Columbia, 317 - 2194 Health Sciences Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada

    Michael L Moreton B.Sc., M.Sc & André Truter M.B.ChB, M.Med, FRCSC

  2. Department of Surgery, Saanich Peninsula Hospital, 2166 Mt Newton X Rd, Saanichton, BC, V8M 2B2, Canada

    André Truter M.B.ChB, M.Med, FRCSC

Authors
  1. Michael L Moreton B.Sc., M.Sc
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  2. André Truter M.B.ChB, M.Med, FRCSC
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Correspondence to Michael L Moreton B.Sc., M.Sc.

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There was no use of animals within this study by any of the authors.

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 A signed informed consent form was collected from each of the participants included in this study.

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Moreton, M.L., Truter, A. Evaluation of inguinal hernia repair using post-operative pain and quality of life metrics. Hernia 27, 71–76 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10029-022-02701-y

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