Table 1.

Postoperative complications recorded in the Swedish Hernia Register (SHR), their definitions and categorisation in this study

Postoperative complications occurring ≤ 30 days	Definition in the SHR	Category of complication
Recurrence	Recurrent hernia on the same side
Urinary retention	Urinary retention requiring catheterisation	Urinary tract complications
Superficial hematoma	Bleeding from a minor vessel in the incision or dissection area, ventral of the transversalis fascia, including port incision	Hematomas
Deep hematoma	Bleeding from a major vessel intraabdominal or preperitoneal dorsal of the transversalis fascia	Hematomas
Superficial surgical site infection	Wound infection in the surgical incision or port incision	Surgical site infections
Deep surgical site infection/abscess	Infection dorsal of the transversalis fascia, preperitoneal or intraabdominal	Surgical site infections
Systemic infection	Sepsis
Pain	Severe pain demanding prolonged pharmacological treatment, readmission, or reoperation	Acute postoperative pain
Intestinal obstruction	Intestinal obstruction
Intestinal damage	Iatrogenic intestinal damage diagnosed postoperatively
Urinary bladder damage	Iatrogenic bladder damage diagnosed postoperatively
Testicular damage	Iatrogenic damage on vas deferens, testicular vessels, pain/atrophy of the testicle diagnosed postoperatively
Cardiovascular event	Cardio or pulmonary event occurring postoperatively
Seroma	Collection of fluid (blood, lymph) expanding the space of the pseudo hernia	Seromas
Death	Death occurring within 30 days postoperatively without any of above complications