Inguinal herniorrhaphy under local anesthesia. A prospective study of 100 consecutive patients with emphasis of perioperative morbidity and patient acceptance.

For various reasons, repair of inguinal hernias under local anesthesia is not well accepted. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of local anesthesia in inguinal hernia repairs. One hundred consecutive inguinal herniorrhaphies are reported. The selection of patients, surgical technique, and incidence of intraoperative and postoperative complications are reported. Patient acceptance and their immediate postoperative course are also described. The study demonstrates that inguinal hernias can be easily repaired under local anesthesia, complications are minimal, and patient acceptance, excellent. We strongly recommend thath this form of anesthesia be used in the "routine" repair of inguinal hernias in cooperative patients.