Clinical Analysis of Pediatric Recurrent Inguinal Hernia: A Single-Center Retrospective Cohort Study

Abstract

Background: Although the recurrence of indirect inguinal hernia in children is relatively rare, it is worthy of pediatric surgeons’ attention. Objectives: The aim of this study was to identify the clinical features and treatment methods for these cases. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the cases of 122 recurrent inguinal hernias in pediatric patients who were surgically treated at our institution between 2014 and 2024. Results: Patients’ ages ranged from 1 year to 14 years. There were 113 (92.6%) male and 9 (7.4%) female patients in the cohort (mean age: 4.1 years). Moreover, 31.1% of the patients were less than 1 year old during their initial repair, 43.5% were aged 1 to 3 years, and the other 25.4% were between 3 and 14 years old. The median period from the first repair to recurrence was 6 months. The patient group at the first operation consisted of 41 patients with unilateral left, 55 patients with unilateral right, and 26 patients with bilateral hernias. In total, 86.1% of patients underwent open surgery during the first operation, and 13.9% of patients underwent laparoscopic surgery. During the second operation, open surgery was used in 81 patients (66.4%), and laparoscopic surgery was performed in 41 patients (33.6%). All patients were followed up from 3 months to 3 years (mean follow-up period: 20.3 months), and no incidences of second recurrence were observed. Conclusions: Either an open or laparoscopic approach can be used effectively to repair a recurrent inguinal hernia. Choosing an appropriate surgical method and appropriate patients at the initial operation is important to reduce recurrence.