The long-term changes in pain-related symptomatology of inguinal hernia following 2 different herniorrhaphy techniques

Abstract

Background/aim: To compare the changes in pain-related symptoms of inguinal hernias from initial admission to postoperative month 6 following 2 herniorrhaphy techniques. Materials and methods: Patients with unilateral inguinal hernias were scheduled for either Lichtenstein or self-gripping polypropylene mesh repair. Patients were preoperatively evaluated with a visual analog scale (VAS) and a Turkish version of the Douleur Neuropathique 4 (DN4) questionnaire and the complaints related to pain were noted. After surgery, patients were discharged without early complications. Patients were reassessed at postoperative month 6. The late-term complaints of pain as well as neurological findings were evaluated using the VAS and the Turkish version of the DN4 questionnaire. Quality of life was also assessed with the Nottingham Health Profile (NHP). Results: Thirty-four patients underwent conventional Lichtenstein repair and 19 patients underwent self-gripping polypropylene mesh repair. Even though decreases in VAS intensity scores for both hernia repair techniques were noted at postoperative month 6 when compared to the preoperative period, no significant changes were found in pain, VAS, total DN4, or NHP scores between groups. Conclusion: Despite its ease of application and short time duration, self-gripping polypropylene mesh repair was not found to be superior to conventional Lichtenstein hernia repair in terms of reducing pain related to inguinal hernia.