Delaying surgery may be acceptable for some men with hernias

By Robert Cervin, June 20th, 2013 | Health | 0 Comments

A comparison shows that men who delayed hernia surgery did no worse than those who did not.
Many men with an iguinal hernia - the most common kind - have few, if any, symptoms. So they often delay getting it repaired until they are troubled by pain and discomfort. A team at Creighton University, Nebraska, looks at whether delaying in this way is medically advisable.

They assigned a group of 720 men to ‘watchful waiting’ or hernia repair. The first group were examined regularly for symptoms and the second group received a standard open hernia repair. At two years, pain interfering with activity had developed in 5.1 per cent of the watchful waiting group and 2.2 per cent in the repair group. Twenty three per cent of the waiting group received a repair because of pain during the study while 17 per cent assigned to repair joined the waiting group instead. Overall, it looks as if waiting to have a hernia repair is a safe option, so long as it is giving few symptoms.