Clinical presentation of inguinal hernia among adults in Uyo, Nigeria

Background: Inguinal hernia is a common pathology seen by the general surgeon in the outpatient clinic. Its spectrum of clinical features on presentation significantly varies from the asymptomatic to the complicated. Objective: To identify and audit the common clinical presentation and presence of known risk factors for inguinal hernia among adult patients with inguinal hernias presenting to an outpatient clinic. Methods: The study involved adults presenting over 1 year at a surgical clinic with a clinical diagnosis of inguinal hernia. Data on age, sex, family history, abdominal pain, constipation, chronic cough, previous hernia surgery as well as features of bladder outlet obstruction and intra-abdominal mass were recorded into a format. Analysis into a simple percentage, mean, and standard deviation was done with SPSS version 17 (SPSS Inc. Chicago, IL, USA). Results: Sixty-five patients were enrolled in the study, comprising 49 males (75.4%) and 16 females (24.6%), M:F = 3:1. The mean age was 45.6 years (SD ± 16.9). The 16-40-year age group had the highest incidence of 29 cases (44.6%) of inguinal hernia. A family history of inguinal hernia (31 cases [47.7%]) and history of previous inguinal hernia surgery (15 cases [23.1%])) was observed. Ten patients with previous surgery presented with a contralateral hernia and 5 with a recurrence. Other factors were chronic constipation 10 cases, smoking 9 cases, chronic cough 8 cases, dysuria 7 cases, enlarged prostate 6 cases, abdominal mass 4 cases, and urethral stricture 1 case. Conclusion: Inguinal hernia is common among young and middle-aged adults in our series. Many patients have features suggestive of complications at presentation. Family history and past inguinal hernia surgery were important risk factors.