Demographic study in operated patients with inguinal hernia

Background: Inguinal hernia is most common anterior abdominal wall hernia and affects all ages with male predominance.The main cause of inguinal hernia is increased abdominal pressure and muscle weakness of abdominal wall. Diagnosis of inguinal hernia is mostly made by clinical examination. Herniotomy, herniorrhaphy, hernioplasty by open operation and laparoscopic procedures is the operative treatment. Material and Method: This retrospective study was conducted in the department of surgery in J.K. Hospital in 411 operated patients with diagnosis of inguinal hernia. Results: Highest number of patients belongs to 41-60 years age group (42.8%). 94.6 % were male and 5.3 % were female patients. Risk factors included benign prostate hypertrophy (37.9%), chronic cough (18.5%), heavy weight lifting (33.6%), chronic constipation (13.6%), abdominal wall muscle weakness due to older age (24.8%) & previous appendicectomy (0.7%). Less common risk factors are positive family history (15.6%), smoking (30.6%), obesity (21.2%) and pregnancy (0.4%). 69.8% patients presented as indirect, 28.2% as direct inguinal hernia and 1.2% as both variety. 67.6% patient presented as right inguinal hernia followed by left (29.2%) and bilateral (3.2%) respectively. Elective operation (94.4%) is more common than emergency operation (5.6%).Open hernioplasty (96.6%) was the most common procedure. Open herniorrhaphy was performed in few patient (2.7%). Open herniotomy was procedure of choice for paediatric patients (0.7%). Conclusion: This demographic study of inguinal hernia in this region can guide as to better understanding of the trends of this disease.This useful information may aid in the assessment and definitive care of these patients with inguinal hernia.