Management of Inguinal Hernia in Children

Objectives: To determined best practice for the management of inguinal hernia in children. Design: Descriptive Study. Place and Duration of Study:   Children Hospital Quetta from January, 2014 to January, 2016. Patients and Method:  All the children admitted in pediatric surgery unit with inguinal hernia were included in this study, already operated patients were excluded from the study. Physical examination and relevant investigations (CBC, HBsAg, anti HCV & scrotal ultrasound) were performed. Patients were followed post operatively to observe the complications of surgery. Results:   Total 180 patients were included in this study.  Male 145 and female 35. Patients with bilateral inguinal hernia were 20 (11.1%) Age from two days to twelve years. 98 patients came for follow up until 8 months. Twenty patients had complications like haematoma in 09 (5%), scrotal odema in 5 (2.77%), wound infection in 4 (2.2%) and recurrence in 2 (1.1%) patients. All these complications were observed in first two months of follow up. Haematoma and oedma was treated conservatively, patients of recurrent hernia were re-operated, no complications found related to scrotal size during follow up. Conclusions:   Complications observed in our study are minimal.