Skip to main content
PMC home page
Annals of The Royal College of Surgeons of England logoLink to Annals of The Royal College of Surgeons of England
. 1993 Jan;75(1):30–33.

How long do patients convalescence after inguinal herniorrhaphy? Current principles and practice.

G S Robertson 1, P R Burton 1, I G Haynes 1
PMCID: PMC2497751  PMID: 8422142

Abstract

Over the course of this century it has become apparent that there is no longer any rationale behind the old-established advice to rest for several weeks after hernia repair. It was our impression that such advice continues to be widely accepted, and we therefore sent questionnaires to 100 recently appointed consultant surgeons, 400 of their patients and 200 recently established partners in general practice to assess current practices. Our findings show that surgeons advised a mean of 4.4 weeks off work and GPs 6.2 weeks off-work, in both cases the period varying with the nature of the patient's occupation. Patients actually took a mean of 7.0 weeks off work. The wide variation reflects the lack of evidence that an early return to work after hernia repair causes any detrimental effect. We believe that this should be explained to patients, who should be free to return to work as soon as they feel comfortable. Such a policy could substantially decrease the current loss of productivity.

Full text

PDF
30

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Amiel D., Woo S. L., Harwood F. L., Akeson W. H. The effect of immobilization on collagen turnover in connective tissue: a biochemical-biomechanical correlation. Acta Orthop Scand. 1982 Jun;53(3):325–332. doi: 10.3109/17453678208992224. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bourke J. B., Lear P. A., Taylor M. Effect of early return to work after elective repair of inguinal hernia: Clinical and financial consequences at one year and three years. Lancet. 1981 Sep 19;2(8247):623–625. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(81)92756-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bourke J. B., Taylor M. The clinical and economic effects of early return to work after elective inguinal hernia repair. Br J Surg. 1978 Oct;65(10):728–731. doi: 10.1002/bjs.1800651016. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Cannon S. R., Ralphs D. N., Bolton J. P., Wood J. J., Allan A. Early discharge following hernia repair in unselected patients. Br J Surg. 1982 Feb;69(2):112–113. doi: 10.1002/bjs.1800690218. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Glassow F. Inguinal hernia repair using local anaesthesia. Ann R Coll Surg Engl. 1984 Nov;66(6):382–387. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Lichtenstein I. L., Herzikoff S., Shore J. M., Jiron M. W., Stuart S., Mizuno L. The dynamics of wound healing. Surg Gynecol Obstet. 1970 Apr;130(4):685–690. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Lichtenstein I. L., Shore J. M. Exploding the myths of hernia repair. Am J Surg. 1976 Sep;132(3):307–315. doi: 10.1016/0002-9610(76)90381-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Ross A. P. Incidence of inguinal hernia recurrence. Effect of time off work after repair. Ann R Coll Surg Engl. 1975 Dec;57(6):326–328. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Serpell J. W., Johnson C. D., Jarrett P. E. A prospective study of bilateral inguinal hernia repair. Ann R Coll Surg Engl. 1990 Sep;72(5):299–303. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Taylor E. W., Dewar E. P. Early return to work after repair of a unilateral inguinal hernia. Br J Surg. 1983 Oct;70(10):599–600. doi: 10.1002/bjs.1800701010. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Vailas A. C., Tipton C. M., Matthes R. D., Gart M. Physical activity and its influence on the repair process of medial collateral ligaments. Connect Tissue Res. 1981;9(1):25–31. doi: 10.3109/03008208109160237. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Annals of The Royal College of Surgeons of England are provided here courtesy of The Royal College of Surgeons of England

RESOURCES