Association of tension-free inguinal hernia repair and pathospermia in fertile men

Abstract

To reveal the association of tension-free inguinal hernia repair and pathospermia in fertile men. We have retrospectively analyzed medical records of 512 men who appealed to andrologist with complaints of the absence of pregnancy in wife in 2018. We evaluated duration and features of infertility, presence/absence of previous inguinal hernia repair, spermogram data (according to WHO criteria, 2010) in all patients. Duration of infertility in men after inguinal hernia repair persists for 4.2±2.1 years. Right-sided hernia repair was performed in 36 (48.6%) patients, left-side - 23 (31%), bilateral repair - 15 (20.2%) patients. Men with impaired sperm motility prevailed among patients after right-sided inguinal hernia repair (17 (47.2%) people). Left-sided hernia repair was followed by asthenozoospermia in 8 (34.7%) cases, bilateral hernia repair - in 3 (20%) cases. The most severe abnormalities in semen analysis (azoospemia) develop after bilateral hernia repair. Inguinal tension-free hernia repair is a risk factor for male infertility in 14.4% of cases. It is very important to examine a man in case of infertile marriage. Previous surgical interventions including inguinal hernia repair should be considered.