O19 5-YEAR OUTCOMES OF A RANDOMIZED CLINICAL TRIAL OF MESH FIXATION WITH CYANOACRYLATE OR SUTURES FOR LICHTENSTEIN HERNIA REPAIR: RECURRENCE, CHRONIC PAIN AND QUALITY OF LIFE

Aim To assess the 5-year outcomes of mesh fixation with cyanoacrylate or sutures for Lichtenstein hernioplasty (recurrence rate, chronic pain, and patient’s quality of life (QoL). Methods 370 patients who underwent Lichtenstein hernia repair were randomized to receive either cyanoacrylate or non-absorbable sutures for lightweight polypropylene mesh fixation. Postoperative outcomes were evaluated by an independent blinded observer. QoL was assessed using the EuraHS-QoL questionnaire (European Registry for Abdominal Wall Hernias). Results Initially 188 patients received Glue and 182 Suture. Mean follow-up: 72.6±7.8 months. 78.1% patients (Glue:147,Suture:142) completed 5-years follow-up. No significant differences were observed in terms of chronic pain. VAS score≥3: 8.1% vs 9.1%, Glue vs. Suture, respectively (P = 0.836). 8 patients (2.7%) (4 in each group) reported pain at rest, reaching 10.7% when analyzing pain during activity. QoL was unaffected (EHS-QoL score=0) in the majority of patients: 131 (89.2%) vs. 127 (89.5%) for Glue or Suture respectively (p = 0.930). QoL-score greater than 20/90 points: 2 patients (Glue) vs. 6 (Suture) (p = 0.099). The Suture group QoL-score was higher in all domains but without statistical significance. Foreign body sensation was slightly higher in Suture group (7.5% vs. 9.3%) but without reaching statistical significance (p = 0.534). There were no differences in the recurrence rate (2.6% vs. 3.8% for Glue and Suture respectively) (p = 0533). Conclusions Chronic discomfort rate after Lichtenstein hernioplasty is not negligible. Atraumatic mesh fixation with glue was quicker and resulted in less acute postoperative pain than sutures for Lichtenstein hernia repair, but with no statistical differences in terms of chronic pain nor the long-term patients’ QoL.

Transabdominal Preperitoneal Patch Plasty versus Open Lichtenstein Hernia Repair – A Study

A study to compare the outcomes of laparoscopic transabdominal preperitoneal patch plasty (TAPP) and open Lichtenstein repair in the management of inguinal hernia was carried out at the Department of Surgery, SKIMS Medical College, Bemina, Srinagar, Kashmir, India, from June 2017 to December 2018. Sixty patients with inguinal hernia were enrolled in the study. It was a type of non-randomized prospective cohort study, wherein 30 patients were treated with TAPP and 30 with open Lichtenstein repair. Patients were studied since admission till discharge and followed for 2 years in the outpatient department. Mean operation time in TAPP was higher than the Open Lichtenstein Repair, but the overall complications were higher in the latter. Patients with inguinal hernias who underwent repair by TAPP approach had significantly better post-operative courses than those who undergo open Lichtenstein repair.

957 Comparison of Inguinodynia In Patients Undergoing Prophylactic Ilioinguinal Neurectomy vs No Neurectomy In Lichtenstein Mesh Hernioplasty

Objective The objective of this study is to compare the frequency of inguinodynia in ilioinguinal neurectomy VS no neurectomy in patients undergoing Lichtenstein mesh hernioplasty. Method 200 male patients with unilateral, primary, reducible inguinal hernia were randomly distributed in to two groups by using lottery method to undergo Lichtenstein’s hernia repair i.e., with and without ilioinguinal neurectomy. All the operation were carried out under local anesthesia. Pain score was calculated using the VAS system at 3rd month and inguinodynia was labelled if it is more than 1 on VAS scale. Results 200 male patients with mean age of 53.25 ± 6.768 were included. 42 (21%) had Inguinodynia after surgery. When we cross tabulated both groups with inguinodynia, results came up significant (p = 0.001). In neurectomy group 10 patients had inguinodynia while in no neurectomy group, 32 patients were having Inguinodynia. There was no effect of malnutrition on outcome. Younger age group benefitted more from procedure. Conclusions It is concluded that there is difference in frequency of inguinodynia in ilioinguinal neurectomy versus no neurectomy in patients undergoing Lichtenstein hernia repair. Patients with ilioinguinal neurectomy had reduced incidence of inguinodynia.

Ilioinguinal Nerve Neurectomy is better than Preservation in Lichtenstein Hernia Repair: A Systematic Literature Review and Meta-analysis

Objective This study aimed to evaluate the incidence of chronic groin pain (primary outcome) and alterations of sensitivity (secondary outcome) after Lichtenstein inguinal hernia repair, comparing neurectomy with ilioinguinal nerve preservation surgery. Summary background data The exact cause of chronic groin postoperative pain after mesh inguinal hernia repair is usually unclear. Section of the ilioinguinal nerve (neurectomy) may reduce postoperative chronic pain. Methods We followed PRISMA guidelines to identify randomized studies reporting comparative outcomes of neurectomy versus ilioinguinal nerve preservation surgery during Lichtenstein hernia repairs. Studies were identified by searching in PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science from April 2020. The protocol for this systematic review and meta-analysis was submitted and accepted from PROSPERO: CRD420201610. Results In this systematic review and meta-analysis, 16 RCTs were included and 1550 patients were evaluated: 756 patients underwent neurectomy (neurectomy group) vs 794 patients underwent ilioinguinal nerve preservation surgery (nerve preservation group). All included studies analyzed Lichtenstein hernia repair. The majority of the new studies and data comes from a relatively narrow geographic region; other bias of this meta-analysis is the suitability of pooling data for many of these studies. A statistically significant percentage of patients with prosthetic inguinal hernia repair had reduced groin pain at 6 months after surgery at 8.94% (38/425) in the neurectomy group versus 25.11% (113/450) in the nerve preservation group [relative risk (RR) 0.39, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.28–0.54; Z = 5.60 (P < 0.00001)]. Neurectomy did not significantly increase the groin paresthesia 6 months after surgery at 8.5% (30/353) in the neurectomy group versus 4.5% (17/373) in the nerve preservation group [RR 1.62, 95% CI 0.94–2.80; Z = 1.74 (P = 0.08)]. At 12 months after surgery, there is no advantage of neurectomy over chronic groin pain; no significant differences were found in the 12-month postoperative groin pain rate at 9% (9/100) in the neurectomy group versus 17.85% (20/112) in the inguinal nerve preservation group [RR 0.50, 95% CI 0.24–1.05; Z = 1.83 (P = 0.07)]. One study (115 patients) reported data about paresthesia at 12 months after surgery (7.27%, 4/55 in neurectomy group vs. 5%, 3/60 in nerve preservation group) and results were not significantly different between the two groups [RR 1.45, 95% CI 0.34, 6.21;Z = 0.51 (P = 0.61)]. The subgroup analysis of the studies that identified the IIN showed a significant reduction of the 6th month evaluation of pain in both groups and confirmed the same trend in favor of neurectomy reported in the previous overall analysis: statistically significant reduction of pain 6 months after surgery at 3.79% (6/158) in the neurectomy group versus 14.6% (26/178) in the nerve preservation group [RR 0.28, 95% CI 0.13–0.63; Z = 3.10 (P = 0.002)]. Conclusion Ilioinguinal nerve identification in Lichtenstein inguinal hernia repair is the fundamental step to reduce or avoid postoperative pain. Prophylactic ilioinguinal nerve neurectomy seems to offer some advantages concerning pain in the first 6th month postoperative period, although it might be possible that the small number of cases contributed to the insignificancy regarding paresthesia and hypoesthesia. Nowadays, prudent surgeons should discuss with patients and their families the uncertain benefits and the potential risks of neurectomy before performing the hernioplasty.

A prospective study comparing prophylactic division versus preservation of the ilioinguinal nerve in open Lichtenstein inguinal hernioplasty

Background: Inguinal hernia is one of the most common surgeries done all over the world. Chronic groin pain is one of the most annoying problems after mesh hernioplasty. This study aimed at evaluating the incidence of chronic groin pain and numbness occurring after prophylactic ilioinguinal neurectomy, as compared to its preservation during Lichtenstein’s inguinal hernioplasty. Methods: This prospective randomized study involved 90 patients complaining of inguinal hernias admitted to the department of general surgery, Tanta university hospitals during the study period. Our patients were divided randomly in two equal groups. (Group A) patients were subjected to Lichtenstein hernia repair with ilioinguinal neurectomy while (group B) patients were subjected to Lichtenstein hernia repair with nerve preservation. Post-operatively the incidence of groin pain and numbness were assessed in all patients. The pain was evaluated using a visual analogue scale. Whereas numbness was examined by the monofilament test and evaluated in comparison to the opposite side.Results: In the present study, the incidence of pain was higher in nerve preservation study group whereas, numbness was not a major complication after prophylactic ilioinguinal nerve division and did not add to patient morbidity.Conclusions: Prophylactic ilioinguinal nerve division could be an appropriate and beneficial solution for chronic groin pain after the Lichtenstein procedure and may be added as a surgical step during the classic procedures for hernia repair. Also, numbness was not a major complication after the prophylactic division of the ilioinguinal nerve and did not add to the patient morbidity.

Effect of antibiotic prophylaxis in open inguinal hernioplasty (Lichtenstein hernia repair): a study in tertiary care center

Background: Inguinal hernia is one of the most common presenting surgical problems of abdomen and open inguinal hernioplasty (Lichtenstein hernia repair) is one of the most commonly performed general surgeries. Many time hernia repairs may lead to surgical site complication. There are many strong and effective antibiotics available for prophylaxis from these infections. Aims and objectives of the study were to compare rate of wound infection in post-operative cases among antibiotics prophylaxis group and placebo group.Methods: A prospective study was conducted in tertiary care centres with 200 patients enrolled in study. These patients were equally divided in both groups that is antibiotics arm and placebo group. The patients were in between age group of 18-70 years. The study duration was one and half years. Patients were included as per inclusion criteria. Data was entered and analysed using appropriate software.Results: There were total 200 patients recruited in the study with 100 patients in each group. Mean age of patients was 47.92±8.32 years in antibiotic group and 48.09±9.12 years in placebo group. All patients were males and most of th patients belong to rural area. A total of 12 patients develop surgical site infection out of which 6 patients were from antibiotics group and 8 patients from placebo group. Differences between these groups were not significant (0.426).Conclusions: This study showed that there was no clear acceptable benefit of antibiotics in prevention of post-operative wound infection in open inguinal hernioplasty (Lichtenstein hernia repair). Antibiotics administration did not reduce the incidence of wound infections in significant way.

Impact of Mesh and Fixation on Chronic Inguinal Pain in Lichtenstein Hernia Repair: 5-Year Outcomes from the Finn Mesh Study

Objective To find out the mesh fixation technique that minimises chronic pain in Lichtenstein hernioplasty. Summary background data Mesh fixation may affect chronic pain and recurrence after inguinal hernia surgery, but long-term results of comparative trials are lacking. Methods Lichtenstein hernioplasty was performed under local anaesthesia on 625 patients in day care units. The patients were randomised to receive either a cyanoacrylate glue (n = 216), self-gripping mesh (n = 202) or non-absorbable 3–0 polypropylene sutures (n = 216) for the fixation of mesh. A standardised telephone interview or postal questionnaire was conducted 5 years after the index operation. The patients with complaints suggesting recurrence or chronic pain (visual analogue scale ≥ 3, 0–10) were examined clinically. The rate of occasional pain, chronic severe pain, recurrence, re-operations, daily use of analgesics, overall patient satisfaction and sensation of a foreign object were recorded. Results A total of 82% of patients (n = 514) completed the 5-year audit including 177, 167 and 170 patients in the glue, self-fixation and suture groups, respectively. There were no significant differences in the incidence of pain (7–8%), operated recurrences (2–4%), overall re-operations (4–5%), need for analgesics (1–2%), patient’s satisfaction (93–97%) or in the feeling of a foreign object (11–18%) between the study groups. Conclusion The choice of the mesh or fixation method had no effect on the overall long-term outcome, pain or recurrence of hernia. Less penetrating fixation (glue or self-gripping mesh) is a safe option for the fixation of mesh in Lichtenstein hernia repair.