The impact of emergency surgery on results of femoral hernia repair

Summary BACKGROUND: Retrospective analysis of a consecutive series of 33 patients undergoing femoral hernia repair. METHODS: Time from diagnosis to operation, previous inguinal hernia repair and recurrent femoral hernia were evaluated for their impact on the need to undergo emergency surgery. Postoperative chronic pain was measured by VAS and MPQ and compared for elective and emergency procedures. RESULTS: Eleven patients (33.3%) had to undergo emergency surgery, while 22 (66.7%) were operated electively. Follow-up was 50 months in median (range 16–72). Overall, time periods between diagnosis and surgery differed significantly in acute and elective patients ( p = 0.001). Neither previous inguinal hernia repair ( p = 0.212) nor recurrent femoral hernia ( p = 0.143) increased the risk for acute operation. There was no recurrence. VAS and MPQ did not reveal a significant difference between emergency and elective patients. CONCLUSIONS: Previous inguinal hernia repair and recurrent femoral hernia do not increase the risk for emergency repair of femoral hernia. The incidence of postoperative chronic pain following acute and elective repairs was comparable.