Indirect inguinal hernia in Nigerian older children and young adults: is herniorrhaphy necessary?

A total of 316 patients aged between 12 and 45 years (mean 25 ± 5.3 years), comprising 305 males and 11 females with a male:female ratio of 27.7:1, had 326 herniotomies, which accounted for 27.5% of pediatric operations during the study period. Two hundred and eighty-three (86.8%) patients had elective while 43 (13.2%) had emergency surgery following features of obstruction and strangulation, with a mean duration of surgery of 30 min (range 20–40 min). All of the patients were operated on day case with a mean observation period of 8 ± 3.5 h (range 2–24 h), and no significant immediate postoperative complication was recorded. Postoperative pain was extremely statistically significant in those cases that had strangulation before operation (P < 0.0001), but paracetamol was an adequate analgesia. The patients resumed normal duties between 5 and 14 days after repair and have been followed up for 1–5 years, with one (0.3%) patient, who was also being treated for chronic cough, who had recurrence 3 years after operation.