Mesh-based inguinal hernia repairs in an integrated healthcare system and surgeon and hospital volume: a cohort study of 110,808 patients from over a decade.

PURPOSE

The aim of this study was to describe a cohort of patients who underwent inguinal hernia repair within a United States-based integrated healthcare system (IHS) and evaluate the risk for postoperative events by surgeon and hospital volume within each surgical approach, open, laparoscopic, and robotic.

METHODS

Patients aged ≥ 18 years who underwent their first inguinal hernia repair were identified for a cohort study (2010-2020). Average annual surgeon and hospital volume were broken into quartiles with the lowest volume quartile as the reference group. Multiple Cox regression evaluated risk for ipsilateral reoperation following repair by volume. All analyses were stratified by surgical approach (open, laparoscopic, and robotic).

RESULTS

110,808 patients underwent 131,629 inguinal hernia repairs during the study years; procedures were performed by 897 surgeons at 36 hospitals. Most repairs were open (65.4%), followed by laparoscopic (33.5%) and robotic (1.1%). Reoperation rates at 5 and 10 years of follow-up were 2.4% and 3.4%, respectively; rates were similar across surgical groups. In adjusted analysis, surgeons with higher laparoscopic volumes had a lower reoperation risk (27-46 average annual repairs: hazard ratio [HR] = 0.63, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.53-0.74; ≥ 47 repairs: HR 0.53, 95% CI 0.44-0.64) compared to those in the lowest volume quartile (< 14 average annual repairs). No differences in reoperation rates were observed in reference to surgeon or hospital volume following open or robotic inguinal hernia repair.

CONCLUSION

High-volume surgeons may reduce reoperation risk following laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair. We hope to better identify additional risk factors for inguinal hernia repair complications and improve patient outcomes with future studies.