Chronic pain after femoral hernia repair: a cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE

To explore the prevalence of and to identify possible risk factors for chronic pain after surgery for femoral hernia.

BACKGROUND

Chronic pain has become a very important outcome in quality assessment of inguinal hernia surgery. There are no studies on the risk for chronic pain after femoral hernia surgery.

METHODS

The Inguinal Pain Questionnaire was sent to 1967 patients who had had a repair for primary unilateral femoral hernia between January 1, 1997 and December 31, 2006. A follow-up period of at least 18 months was chosen. Answers from 1461 patients were matched with data recorded in the Swedish Hernia Register and analyzed.

RESULTS

Some degree of pain during the previous week was reported by 24.2% (354) of patients. Pain interfered with daily activities in 5.5% (81) of patients. Emergency surgery (OR = 0.54; 95% CI = 0.40-0.74) and longer time since surgery (OR = 0.93; 95% CI = 0.89-0.98 for each year added) were associated with lower risk for chronic postoperative pain, whereas a high level of preoperative pain was associated with a higher risk for chronic pain (OR = 1.17; 95% CI = 1.10-1.25). Surgical technique was not found to influence the risk for chronic pain in multivariate logistic regression analysis.

CONCLUSIONS

Chronic postoperative pain is as important a complication after femoral hernia surgery as it is after inguinal hernia surgery. In contrast to inguinal hernia surgery, no risk factor related to surgical technique was found. Further investigations into the role of preoperative pain are necessary.