Characteristics and Treatments for Pediatric Ordinary and Incarcerated Inguinal Hernia Based on Gender: 12-Year Experiences from a Single Center

Abstract

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p><jats:bold>Background:</jats:bold> To describe the different characteristics of pediatric inguinal hernia in a large population for both genders based on our 12-year experience, and to accordingly recommend one of the two commonly used methods of hernia repair: the traditional open inguinal hernia repair (OIHR) and laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair (LIHR). An additional goal was to describe the characteristics of incarcerated inguinal hernia.<jats:bold>Methods:<jats:italic> </jats:italic></jats:bold>Patients with unilateral or bilateral inguinal hernia who were admitted to our hospital and received OIHR or LIHR under general anesthesia were included. Medical records were retrospectively collected and analyzed.<jats:bold>Results:</jats:bold> A total of 12190 patients were included in this study. The ratio of male to female was 4.8:1. There was a total of 10646 unilateral hernias (87.3%) and 1544 bilateral hernias (12.7%), with a corresponding ratio of 6.9:1. 12444 hernia repair surgeries, 11083 (89.1%) OIHR and 1361 (10.9%) LIHR, were held. OIHR had a shorter operative time than LIHR for all unilateral and female bilateral repair, unlike for bilateral male repair. There was no difference between OIHR and LIHR for ipsilateral recurrent hernia in males. There was a difference between OIHR and LIHR for metachronous contralateral hernia.Incarcerated inguinal hernia was associated with longer operative time, hospital stay and higher hospital costs. Males and patients under 1 year were more likely to present with incarcerated hernia.<jats:bold>Conclusions:<jats:italic> </jats:italic></jats:bold>OIHR should be considered for male patients, especially for unilateral and complete inguinal hernia. LIHR is highly recommended for female patients. For incarcerated hernia, attention should be paid to patients under 1 year old, as they can be 60 times more susceptible, and males. Surgeons should also be aware of ovary hernias in females.</jats:p>