A Survey of Pediatric Inguinal Hernia: A Single Center Experience with 40,000 Cases in a Ten-Year Period (2009-2019)

Abstract

Background: Inguinal hernia repair is one of the most common operations in surgical practice. Herniotomy is the most common choice and standard treatment for inguinal hernia. The purpose of this study was to describe and analyze the data of pediatric patients who had undergone open surgery for inguinal hernia repair. Methods: A retrospective review of 40,000 pediatric patients with inguinal hernia was conducted between 2009 and 2019. The collected data included age, sex, type of hernia, side of hernia, predisposing factors and type of hospitalization. The patients' postoperative follow-up was performed until recovery. Results: Inguinal hernia was observed in 22125 males (55.31%) and 17847 females (44.61%). We also had 28 cases (0.07%) with testicular feminization. The age of all cases ranged from premature newborn to 16 years old. There were 52.2% right sided hernia, 34.99% left sided hernia and 12.8% bilateral. 59.74% (23898) of the patients had predisposing factors. Most patients were managed as outpatients and about a third of them (9037 cases) needed hospitalization. Conclusion: In conclusion, although inguinal hernias are usually believed to be much more common in boys, girls also showed a high incidence in this study. Their occurrences among boys are in younger ages as compared to girls. In inguinal hernia repair, we should be careful about family history and predisposing factors, especially chronic constipation.