Perioperative Local Cooling Reduce Significantly Early Pain after Open Inguinal Hernia Repair: A Prospective Randomized Study

Pain and local complications are the major determinants of outcome after inguinal hernia repair. To evaluate the respective impact of peri-operative cooling of surgical site and usual care after open inguinal hernia repair, we performed a prospective randomized study. Methods: One hundred and eight consecutive patients with primary unilateral inguinal hernia were included the study. Repair was performed by local direct access during ambulatory surgery. The first study group underwent standard pre- and postoperative local care (control group). In the second group (cold compress group), a single-use disposable sterile cold compress was applied on the surgical site for at least 30 minutes before and 2 hours after surgery. Primary endpoints were immediate postoperative pain using a visual analogue scale, and local complications. Secondary endpoints included: analgesic drug consumption, length of hospital stay, delay to return to normal activity and patient satisfaction. Results: There was no difference concerning operative time (36.3 ± 14.0 vs 39.6 ± 7.2 minutes) and early (one-week) complications, although there was a non significant reduced incidence of hematoma and ecchymosis (0/54 versus 4/54) for the cold compress group. Analgesic drug consumption was significantly (p = 0.01) reduced. During the day of surgery and the first postoperative day, the visual analogue scale was significantly lower after cooling. There was a non-significant reduction in length of hospital stay (150 ± 37 versus 210 ± 47 min), and time to return to normal activity was shorter in the cold compress group. Conclusion: For open inguinal hernia repair, immediate pre- and post operative surgical site cooling, targeting a controlled temperature between 12?C and 15?C significantly reduced postoperative pain, analgesic drug consumption and resulted in improved immediate outcomes. This technique is safe, simple, easy to use, inexpensive and well tolerated by the patient.