Hernia recurrence inventory: inguinal hernia recurrence can be accurately assessed using patient-reported outcomes

Purpose Relying solely on in-person encounters to assess long-term outcomes of hernia repair leads to substantial loss of information and patients lost-to-follow-up, hindering research and quality improvement initiatives. We aimed to determine if inguinal hernia recurrences could be assessed using the Ventral Hernia Recurrence Inventory (VHRI), a previously existing patient-reported outcome (PRO) tool that can be administered through the telephone and has already been validated for diagnosing ventral hernia recurrence.