Repair of groin hernia under local anaesthesia in secondary health facility.

BACKGROUND: Repair of groin hernias is the most commonly performed elective procedure by general surgeons worldwide. The techniques of anaesthesia differ among surgeons and vary from one health facility to another. General anaesthesia is much favoured in spite of the lack of anaesthetists in our setting. We aim to determine the feasibility of groin hernia repair under local anaesthesia (LA) with respect to patients' morbidity, acceptability and satisfaction.

METHOD: Ninety-seven patients with uncomplicated groin hernias treated between July 2012 and June 2015, at the State Specialist Hospital, Ikere-Ekiti, Nigeria were recruited for the study.

RESULTS: One hundred and five hernias in 97 patients of American Society of Anesthesiologists categories I-III were successfully repaired under LA. Their ages ranged between 16 and 95 years with a median age of 52. There were 91 (93.8%) males and six (6.2%) females, giving a male to female ratio of 15:1. Most hernias were indirect (81.9%) and inguinoscrotal (65.7%) type. Nylon darn and modified Bassini were surgical techniques of repair in 60.9 and 36.2%, respectively. The mean operating time was 51.1 ± 11.2 min. Two patients (1.9%) developed scrotal haematoma while a patient each (1%) developed superficial surgical site infection and scrotal burns. Ninety (92.8%) patients were satisfied with anaesthesia technique. The mean follow-up was 8.9 ± 4.1 months and there was no recurrence.

CONCLUSION: Groin hernia repair under LA is safe, feasible with high patient's satisfaction and would be the most ideal technique in our local setting where anaesthetists are not readily available.