Unilateral Lichtenstein tension-free mesh hernia repair and testicular perfusion: a prospective control study

Purpose Compare testicular perfusion between the herniated and the healthy side pre- and post-surgery. Materials and methods Our study was done on patients with unilateral inguinal hernia. A Doppler ultrasound study was performed in the healthy and herniated side before surgery and 3 months after it. Results 31 patients were included, 74.2% on the right and 25.8% on the left side. When comparing the pre-surgical values of testicular resistance index from the healthy side with those on the herniated side, there was a significant difference at the spermatic cord levels (0.73 ± 0.11 and 0.81 ± 0.13, p = 0.018) and the extra-testicular level (0.66 ± 0.92 and 0.74 ± 0.10, p = 0.032), but a significant difference was not present at the intra-testicular level (0.62 ± 0.07 and 0.65 ± 0.08). Three months after the surgery, there were no statistically significant differences at any of the levels studied. Conclusion There are no intra-testicular perfusion differences caused by the presence of hernia, nor during post-surgery.