Inguinal hernia: A hereditary disorder.

Abstract

Objective: To determine that inguinal hernia is an inherited disease running in families. Study Design: Prospective Observational. Setting: Surgical Unit I & III of Ghulam Mohammad Mahar Medical College Hospital, Sukkur. Period: June 2017 to May 2022. Methods: A total of 1590 patients of inguinal hernia who presented to surgical OPD or emergency of GMMM College were included in the study. A detailed history was taken and examination done. Important parameters noted were age, gender, occupation, family history of inguinal hernia, degree of relative with inguinal hernia, type of inguinal hernia, primary or recurrent Hernia. Results: Out of total 1590 patients, 1499 (94%) were males and 91 (5.75%) females with male to female ratio of M: F=16.47:1 (Figure-1). Age ranged from 6 to 81 years with mean age of 52.32±15.25 years (Table-I). Out of 1590 patients, 1558 (97%) patients had primary while 32 (3%) had recurrent hernia. Out of 1590 patients, 1081 (68%) patients had direct hernia whereas 509 (32%) had indirect hernia; 843 (53%) were right sided, 722 (45.4%) left sided and 25 (1.6%) were bilateral hernia. Out of 1590 patients, 1312 (82.52%) had positive family history of inguinal hernia whereas 278 (17.48%) had negative family history for inguinal hernia. Out of 1312 with positive family history 971 (74%) patients had first degree relative with hernia, while 341 (26%) had 2nd degree relative with hernia (Table-II). Out of 32 cases of recurrent inguinal hernia, 22 (68.8%) had positive history of 1st degree relative with hernia, 9 (28.1%) had second degree relative with hernia whereas only 1 (3.1%) had negative family history for hernia. Conclusion: Our study concludes that family history of inguinal hernia poses a significant risk for developing hernia.