John S. Kurien, Sandeep Abraham Varghese, Aswith Das, Sansho E. U
BACKGROUND Hernia repair surgeries underwent a lot of modifications over time. These modifications were an attempt to reduce the recurrence rate and post-operative complications. Current techniques for Inguinal hernia show similar recurrence rate. Therefore, recurrence is no longer the main issue discussed when considering improving the current standards for groin hernia repair. Post-surgical chronic pain presents a major, largely unrecognized clinical problem. Consequently, there is a need to not only decrease an extensive dissection in the inguinal canal but also to minimize the interaction between the mesh and major surrounding structures. As a result, placing a mesh in the preperitoneal space is a viable option. Likewise, studies have shown that return to normal activity and return to work is comparatively quicker in Rives. In this study I am comparing the post op period complications in Rives and Lichtenstein hernia surgeries to know whether Rives is superior to Lichtenstein’s repair. MATERIALS AND METHODS After obtaining approval for the study from Institutional Review Board, written informed consent from 100 male patients planning to undergo elective hernia repair surgery at the General Surgery wards in Government Medical College, Kottayam & who were willing to participate in the study were obtained and randomly allocated into two groups, 50 undergoing Rives hernia repair & 50 Lichtenstein hernia repair. The patients were evaluated and followed up according to the protocol. In early postop period, patients were assessed for pain using a numeric rating scale. Complications like haematoma, seroma, wound infection and early recurrence were compared. Chronic inguinal pain/Inguinodynia is a significant, though under reported problem. Moderate to severe pain persisting more than 3 months should be considered pathological. Inguinodynia, if present was assessed using a numerical scale. Another parameter that was assessed was testicular atrophy. For this preoperative and postoperative testicular volumes were measured using an orchidometer and compared. All the patients were followed up for a period of 3 months postoperatively to assess recurrence, testicular atrophy and Inguinodynia. RESULTS Out of the total 100 patients included in the study, 50 patients were in Rives series and 50 in Lichtenstein series. All the patients were males. Average age of the patients was 53.56 in Rives and 55.08 in Lichtenstein series. There were 49 unilateral hernias and 1 bilateral hernia in Rives series and 48 unilateral hernias and 2 bilateral hernias in Lichtenstein group. Among these, 27 were direct and 23 indirect hernias in Rives series, and 18 direct 31 indirect and 1 pantaloon hernia in Lichtenstein series. The mean immediate post-operative pain score was 3.54 in Rives group and 4.26 in Lichtenstein group. The immediate post-operative pain was significantly low in Rives group with a p value of <.001. There were 2 haematoma cases (4%) in Rives group and 6 in Lichtenstein group (12%). All the cases were managed conservatively. Haematoma cases were more in Lichtenstein group which may be due to increased dissection and mesh fixing sutures in the more vascular subaponeurotic plane compared to relatively avascular preperitoneal space. The difference however is not statistically significant (p=0.307). In Lichtenstein cases there were 6 surgical site infections accounting to 12% which required just letting open the skin clips, irrigation and antibiotics. In Rives group, there were 2 surgical site infection cases accounting to 4%. In our study, there is no significant difference in the incidence of surgical site infection (p=0.14). There were no recurrences in both Rives and Lichtenstein repairs during the study period. CONCLUSION Immediate post-operative pain was significantly less in Rives compared to Lichtenstein. There was no significant difference in other post-operative complications like seroma, haematoma, recurrence, surgical site infection or testicular atrophy. Both Rives and Lichtenstein procedures yield excellent results with almost no recurrence, low post-operative complication rates and good long term outcomes.
