Driving after hernia surgery

Patients should be advised not to drive for 10 days EDITOR-Amid in his editorial and Ismail et al in their short report say that surgeons traditionally advise patients recovering from groin hernias not to drive for a month or two and recommend national guidelines be developed. 1 2 In 1976 we published the effects of surgical operation on the "brake clutch simulator" 3 and showed that patients who had an inguinal hernia repair under general anaesthetic were able to perform an emergency stop in exactly the same time as they could preoperatively eight days after operation. [...]of this work it has always been my view that patients who have had an open inguinal hernia repair under general anaesthetic be advised not to drive their car for 10 days after the operation.