Quality of life in elderly patients after inguinal hernioplasty

Background and aim

Inguinal hernia is the most frequent abdominal wall hernias in elderly population. Surgical treatment must be aware of the cardiovascular and respiratory disease these patients are often affected by. Inguinal hernia is responsible to impair the quality of life (QoL). Aim of this study was to evaluate the QoL through the Short-Form (SF)-36 questionnaire in a cohort of elderly patients undergoing inguinal hernioplasty.

Materials and methods

Fifteen male patients of age ≥75 years affected by symptomatic unilateral uncomplicated inguinal hernia were included in this study. All patients undergoing inguinal hernioplasty in local anaesthesia according to the Liechtenstein technique. The SF-36 questionnaire was administered to each patient the day before and 6 months after surgery. Global analysis of the 8 domains of SF-36 and 2 comprehensive indexes of SF-36, Physical Component Summary (PCS) and Mental Component Summary (MCS) were performed.

Results

Inguinal hernioplasty originated no postoperative complications, in particular no patients complained of chronic pain after surgery. Six months after surgery, all 8 domains of SF-36, and MCS and PCS scores improved remarkably as compared with the preoperative time.

Conclusion

Inguinal hernioplasty in elderly patient is a safe and effective procedure. Although the major surgical stress observed in these subjects, the improvement of QoL, as attested by significantly increased in SF-36 scores, represent a clear-cut indication for elective inguinal hernia repair.