Pre-appointment Consultation after Inguinal Hernia Surgery

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate patients who sought care at our hospital before their scheduled appointment. We included 2394 cases of patients who had undergone inguinal hernia repair between January 2008 and March 2019. Of these patients, 176 underwent medical examination before their post-surgery follow-up appointment. We examined the reasons for these consultations and how to manage them in the future. We investigated patient background, surgical outcomes, and risk factors associated with pre-appointment consultation. The median number of days between the consultation and the scheduled appointment was five days. The main reasons were pain (62 cases) and swelling (61 cases). Patients were recommended a follow-up (112 cases) and some were treated with medication in (55 cases).

A comparison of the pre-appointment (176 cases) and appointment groups (2218 cases) showed the pre-appointment group had longer operation times (63 min vs. 58 min ; p=0.01), higher blood loss (5 mL vs. 3 mL ; p=0.02), increased need for open anterior approach (80% vs. 67% : p < 0.01), and a higher number of complications (7.6% vs. 2.4% ; p < 0.01). Multivariate analysis showed a surgical time of 68minutes or more (OR : 1.43, p=0.04), open anterior approach (OR : 1.92, p < 0.01), and complications (OR : 3.30, p < 0.01) were significant risk factors of pre-appointment consultation. For these patients, reassurance, information regarding their condition, and prescribed medication were the main avenues of management.