J Korean Assoc Pediatr Surg.  2007 Dec;13(2):187-193.

Clinical Study of Contralateral Inguinal Hernia Development in Children with Unilateral Inguinal Hernia

Affiliations
  • 1Division of Pediatric Surgery, Department of Surgery, HanYang University, Seoul, Korea. pmjung@hanyang.ac.kr

Abstract

Contralateral exploration in children with unilateral inguinal hernia is controversial. This study was done to identify risk factors for the development of contralateral inguinal hernia in patients with unilateral inguinal hernia. The clinical experience of 4,206 inguinal hernias repaired by one pediatric surgeon on 3,358 children at HanYang University Hospital from September 1979 to December 2002 was analyzed. 1,868 (55.6%) hernias occurred on right side, 1,190 (35.4%) on left side, and 300 (8.9%) were bilateral. 2,702 children were boys and 656 were girls (M:F=4.1:1). 170 children of 3,058 children with unilateral hernias (5.6%) developed contralateral inguinal hernia at 1 day to 95 months after herniotomy. 146 children were boys and 24 were girls (M:F=6.1:1). The patients who had had herniotomy before 1 year of age developed contralateral hernia in 17.4%, compared with 5.6% overall average. The earlier the first herniotomy was performed, the more frequently contralateral hernia developed. The occurrence of contralateral inguinal hernia was more frequent in boys (146 of 2,460, 5.9%) than girls (24 of 598, 4.0%) and more frequent after left herniotomy (80 of 1,190, 6.7%) than after right herniotomy (90 of 1,868, 4.8%), but statistically not significant. 52.9% of contralateral inguinal hernia developed within 1 year after hernia repair, and 87.6% developed within 3 years. Routine exploration on contralateral side in children is not necessary.

Keyword

Inguinal hernia; Contralateral inguinal hernia

MeSH Terms

Child*
Female
Hernia
Hernia, Inguinal*
Herniorrhaphy
Humans
Risk Factors
Full Text Links
  • JKAPS
Actions
Cited
CITED
export Copy
Close
Share
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
Similar articles
Copyright © 2024 by Korean Association of Medical Journal Editors. All rights reserved.     E-mail: koreamed@kamje.or.kr