Visceral Organ Resection During Femoral Hernia Surgery Is a Predictor of Morbidity

A femoral hernia features protrusion of the peritoneum (preperitoneal fat, with abdominal or pelvic contents) through the femoral ring into the femoral canal lying inferior to the inguinal ligament.¹ Femoral hernias are more likely to become strangulated than are other abdominal wall hernias, and emergent femoral hernia repair is associated with the poorest outcomes of abdominal wall hernia surgery. Patients suffer 30% morbidity and 10% mortality.² Prognosis is worse in the elderly, in whom such a hernia is most likely to present with strangulation. A variety of operations have been formulated for treatment of femoral hernia. The objectives of treatment are reduction of the hernia, excision of the sac, and closure of the femoral ring to prevent recurrence.³ Reports on the outcomes of emergency and elective femoral hernia surgery are scarce. Most studies do not distinguish femoral hernia from other types of groin hernia; studies on femoral hernia alone are rare. The main objective of the present study was to review our experience with femoral hernia repair over a 3-year period, and to identify factors influencing morbidity.

Material and Methods

Between June 2009 and June 2013, 80 patients underwent femoral hernia surgery in either Buca Seyfi Demirsoy State Hospital or the Tepecik Teaching and Research Hospitals, Turkey, and data on these patients were retrospectively analyzed. Demographic information, clinical presentations, the presence of incarceration or strangulation, or strangulated organs, surgical techniques, development of postoperative complications, duration of hospitalization, the recurrence rate, and aspects of morbidity and mortality were all evaluated. The surgical techniques used embraced mesh plug hernioplasty, McVay repair, the Stoppa technique, and laparoscopy. The mesh plug technique featured use of nonabsorbable sutures to secure a polypropylene plug in place. McVay repair used interrupted nonabsorbable sutures placed between the aponeurotic margin of the transverse abdominal muscle and Cooper's ligament. Operations were performed under either regional or general anesthesia. A first-generation cephalosporin was used for antibiotic prophylaxis.

Results

Eighty patients underwent surgery, of whom 43 were females (53.8%) and 37 males (46.3%). Mean patient age was 57.1 ± 17.7 years (range: 22–96 years). Sixty-nine patients (86.3%) had primary and 11 (13.8%) recurrent femoral hernias. Fifty patients (62.5%) had right- and 30 (37.5%) left-side femoral hernias. Forty-three patients (53.8%) required emergency surgery to treat incarceration. Of these, 18 (41.9%) exhibited strangulation and underwent resection. Twenty-seven patients (33.8%) had comorbidities, of which the most common were hypertension, coronary artery disease, and chronic obstructive lung disease. Plug mesh repair was the most commonly used operative procedure (59 patients; 73.8%), whereas 16 patients (20%) underwent McVay herniorraphy. Two patients (2.5%) received primary repair, 2 (2.5%) were treated using the Stoppa technique, and 1 (1.3%) was treated laparoscopically (Table 1). The omentum was most frequently incarcerated (22 patients; 51.2%), followed (in order) by the small bowel, the sigmoid colon, and the right tuba salpingitis. Four patients had incarcerations of both the omentum and small bowel; 12 (27.9%) a strangulated omentum, 5 (11.6%) a strangulated small intestine, and 4 (9.3%) both strangulated intestines and omenta. All strangulated regions were resected. The remaining 25 patients exhibited incarceration and underwent simple reduction (no resection). Omental reduction was performed in 10 patients (23.3%), small bowel reduction in 9 (20.9%), sigmoid colon reduction in 2, and tuba salpingitis reduction in 1. Reduction was also performed on the 3 patients with incarceration of both the omentum and small bowel (Table 2). Ultrasound and plain radiography were most commonly used for preoperative evaluation (37 patients; 46.3%). Seventy-one patients (88.8%) were treated under spinal anesthesia, and 9 (11.3%) under general anesthesia. The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) scores were I in 35 patients (43.8%), II in 29 (36.3%), and III in 16 (20%). A first-generation cephalosporin was the prime choice for antibiotic prophylaxis (78 patients; 97.5%). Postoperative complications developed in 11 patients (13.8%). These were wound infections (5, 6.3%), pneumonia (4, 5%), hematoma (1, 1.3%), and cerebrovascular occlusion (1, 1.3%). The median hospitalization period was 3.04 days (1–52 days), and 2 patients died from pneumonia and cerebrovascular occlusion (1 each). Recurrence occurred in 1 patient who was treated using the McVay method (Table 3). Morbid and nonmorbid patients were compared in terms of age, sex, hernia location, presence of comorbid disease, type of anesthesia used, ASA score, operative technique employed, emergency or elective surgery status, surgical reduction, and visceral organ resection. Upon univariate analysis, morbid patients had significantly higher ASA scores (III versus I and II; P = 0.002) and had undergone significantly more frequent visceral organ resection (of the small bowel and/or the omentum; P = 0.002). No other between-group difference was statistically significant (Table 4). We sought to identify independent predictor(s) affecting morbidity, and performed multiple logistic regression analysis using the variables age, male sex, chronic renal insufficiency, use of general anesthesia, ASA score, the need for emergency surgery, time between symptom onset and surgery, performance of surgical reduction, and visceral organ resection. The only independent predictor of morbidity was visceral organ resection (P < 0.05, OR: 14.010, 95% CI: 1.001–196.143; Table 5).

Table 1 Patient characteristics

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Table 2 Tissue status and surgical intervention

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Table 3 Patient demographics and characteristics

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Table 4 Demographic and clinical characteristics of patients who did or did not experience morbidity

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Table 5 Multiple logistic regression identifying predictor(s) of morbidity

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Discussion

Although groin hernia repair is a very common adult surgical procedure, femoral hernia repairs constitute only 2–4% of all such procedures.^4,5 However, femoral hernias are clinically significant, because strangulation, or intestinal or omental necrosis requiring bowel resection, is often present, increasing morbidity and mortality.⁶

Femoral hernias are commonly observed in patients aged 40 to 70 years, principally in the fifth decade of life. Our patients ranged in age from 22 to 96 years (mean, 57.1 ± 17 years). Femoral hernias are 4- to 5-fold more common in females than males,^3,6 although some reports have claimed that the opposite is true.^4,7 In the present study, slightly more females than males (53.8% versus 46.3%) required surgical intervention. Also, right-sided presentations were more common than left-sided, but we do not know why. Neither the width of the femoral ring, prior right-sided lower abdominal incision, or right-handedness, explained the observed right-side preference. It is possible that the sigmoid colon covers the femoral defect inside the abdominal cavity, preventing development of left-sided femoral hernia.⁸ Similarly, in the present study, right-sided hernia was twice as common as left-sided hernia (62.5% versus 37.5%).

Emergency presentations were associated with higher incidences of visceral and small bowel involvement, increased small bowel resection rates, longer hospital stays, and higher mortality. Our data are in agreement with those of previous studies.^9–12 In the present study, 43 patients (53.8%) presented with visceral organ incarceration. Although the difference did not attain statistical significance, morbidity was more common after emergency operations than elective surgery (P = 0.174).

The low incidence of femoral hernias makes it difficult to conduct randomized trials of different repair procedures, and most existing literature features patient series varying in size. Systematic reviewers have found it impossible to draw firm conclusions on the safest and most effective repair method. Adherence to basic surgical principles and a thorough understanding of inguinal anatomy are essential if a procedure is to be successful in the long term. Complete inguinal exploration should precede repair, to ensure that no concurrent hernia is present. Such hernias may be responsible for up to 10% of recurrences.⁴ No one technique is appropriate in all clinical situations. Several means of femoral hernia repair have been described. All have the same objective, which is to reduce the hernia, excise the sac, and close the ring to prevent subsequent recurrence.^13–15 In general, the mesh-plug technique, the McVay operation, and a laparoscopic approach, are commonly used. In the present study, the mesh-plug technique was the most common approach employed (73.8% of patients). An advantage of this technique is that repair is tension-free.^16,17 The recurrence rate after femoral hernia repair ranges from 1 to 10% in the literature, and technical inadequacy is the most important predictor of recurrence. One of our patients experienced a recurrence after McVay repair.

Risk factors predicting morbidity after surgical repair of femoral hernias have been previously identified.^{2,6,9,10,18–20} Some controversy remains, but apart from all of older age, strangulation, the presence of comorbid disease, the need for emergency surgery, the choice of midline laparotomy, and the type of anesthesia employed, the clearest predictor of morbidity was intestinal resection.^11,21–25 This is also our conclusion.

Advanced age, existing comorbid disease, a high ASA score (III–IV), and emergency surgery are risk factors strongly associated with elevated postoperative morbidity and mortality. In the present study, these risk factors did not attain statistical significance, but were indeed more prevalent in those who suffered morbidity. However, the prime contributor to morbidity was the need for visceral organ resection in patients with incarcerated femoral hernias that were strangulated because of late presentation to our hospital. This observation is in line with the conclusions of other clinical studies.^{2,6,9,21–23,26} The influence of anesthesia (regional or general) on morbidity remains controversial. Some studies have suggested that general anesthesia increased morbidity,^11,22,23 but this has not been widely accepted. Local or regional anesthesia is preferred, to avoid respiratory complications associated with aspiration during induction. In our present study, most patients (88.8%) were treated under spinal anesthesia, and we found no significant association between anesthesia type and later morbidity. We suggest that spinal anesthesia is both safe and practical. However, patient health status and comfort must be considered when anesthesia is planned.

Risk factors contributing to incarceration and subsequent bowel resection are symptom duration of 3 days or over, lack of health insurance, obvious peritonitis, prescription of oral anticoagulants, and older age (>60 years). The cumulative probability of incarceration and strangulation increases over time.^27–29 In the present study, morbidity also increased when the time interval between symptom onset and surgery rose. The median duration from symptom onset to surgery was 11 hours (range: 2–16 hours) in patients who experienced morbidity, but this value did not significantly differ from that of patients who did not in fact suffer morbidity (P > 0.05).

Our study had several limitations. Our sample size was small and our analysis retrospective in nature. Several surgeons operated, and we were unable to include surgeon-dependent factors in our analysis. However, our work is valuable insofar as we focused on only femoral hernias. Most other relevant studies did not distinguish femoral hernias from all groin hernias.

Conclusion

A clinical femoral hernia should be electively repaired as soon as possible to avoid incarceration and strangulation. Watchful waiting is not appropriate. Bowel resection seems to significantly increase patient morbidity.