IOSR Journal of Dental and Medical Sciences (IOSR-JDMS) e-ISSN: 2279-0853, p-ISSN: 2279-0861.Volume 18, Issue 8 Ser. 12 (August. 2019), PP 20-24 www.iosrjournals.org DOI: 10.9790/0853-1808122024 www.iosrjournals.org 20 | Page A clinical study of post- operative complications of Lichtenstein’s hernioplasty for inguinal hernia at RIMS, Ranchi Priyanka Kumari 1 , Sumit Bhaskar 2 , Sumegha Rana 3 (Department of General Surgery, Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences, Ranchi, Jharkhand, India) Corresponding Author: Priyanka Kumari Abstract: Inguinal hernia is one of the most common pathologies in the surgical setting. The introduction of the Lichtenstein’s technique in 1989(tension free hernioplasty with polypropylene mesh) represented one of the most significant break-through in the treatment of this condition since Bassini’s hernia repair. The study was done with the objective to evaluate the postoperative complications, and the recurrence rate associated with Lichtenstein’s hernioplasty.This was a prospective clinical study conducted at Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), during the period from May 2016 to April 2017. A total of 50 patients with inguinal hernia were included in the study. All the patients underwent Lichtenstein’s hernioplasty. Outcome of the surgery was evaluated by the incidence of postoperative complications and recurrence rate of hernia after 1 year follow up. Intra- operative complications were observed in 3 (6%) patients. Immediate postoperative complication was seen in 6 (12%) cases. Stiffness in lower abdomen was noticed in 13 (26%) cases. The average post -operative hospital stay was 4.06±1.43 days and the average post- operative ambulation time was 1.52±0.64 days. The average time taken to return to work post-operatively was 8.68±2.63 days. Long term complications included are foreign body sensation and chronic pain at operated site. After 1 year follow up the prevalence of both the complications was decreased to 4% and 6% respectively. No recurrence of hernia (0%) was noticed after 1 year follow up.Lichtenstein’s hernioplasty is considered as the best surgical procedure for inguinal hernia repair because of low recurrence rate (0%) and postoperative complications. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date of Submission: 14-08-2019 Date of Acceptance: 29-08-2019 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I. Introduction Inguinal hernia is one of the most prevalent pathologies in surgery consultation. Hernia repair had been attempted on several occasions throughout medical history with no satisfactory results. 1 In 1871 Marcy introduced carbolised catgut sutures to avoid infections, applying Lister’s aseptic basis. 1 For the next one hundred years the gold standard surgical technique for repair was herniorrhaphy as described by Bassini in 1884. Other techniques were also proposed such as the Halsted, McVay or the Shouldice techniques; however, all presented the common problem of tension along the suture line. In 1958 Usher and Wallace introduced the polypropylene mesh, which was the first prosthesis compatible with human tissue, even in the presence of infection. 1 The big breakthrough in hernia repair surgery came with the application of the tension-free repair by means of a prosthetic mesh described by Lichtenstein in 1986 2 for all types of hernias. In 1989 Lichtenstein published his results of 1000 cases with nearly no recurrences (practically nil according to the author), with a 5- year follow up, 3 results which were reconfirmed in his subsequent publications. 4,5 The reading of Lichtenstein’s paper in 1989 3 urged us to reconsider the treatment approach used in our patients, whom until then had been operated on using Bassini’s technique, not without a significant number of recurrences. Although numerous techniques have been described, currently tension free mesh repair is the standard of care in the treatment of inguinal hernia because of the low recurrence rates. 6 However, chronic pain, foreign body sensation, stiff lower abdominal wall have been variably reported in patients. Previous studies described that the inflammatory reaction and scar formation caused by the mesh was responsible for the high prevalence of post- operative pain. 7 Despite the frequency of the surgical procedure, no surgeon had produced ideal results, in terms of rate of complications, such as postoperative pain, nerve injury, infection and recurrence remain. 8,9 The open methods of inguinal hernia surgery include Bassini’s repair, modified Bassini’s repair, Shouldice technique, Lichtenstein’s tension free hernioplasty, Desarda’s repair, Prolene mesh repair and preperitoneal mesh repair. 10 Many studies reported that in open hernia repair, Lichtenstein’s tension free hernioplasty was superior in terms of lessened postoperative complications and with low recurrence rate to other surgical methods. 11,12 The present study was