The role of routine groin ultrasonography in the management of inguinal hernia

Article Figures & Tables

Table 1

Gender and age of patients referred for groin hernia(s) between January 2014 and January 2015

Characteristic	Surgeon 1 n = 100	Surgeon 2 n = 100	Surgeon 3 n = 100	Surgeon 4 n = 100	Overall n = 400
Gender, no. (%)
Male	86 (86.0)	91 (91.0)	85 (85.0)	92 (92.0)	354 (88.5)
Female	14 (14.0)	9 (9.0)	15 (15.0)	8 (8.0)	46 (11.5)
Age, mean ± SD, yr	56.0 ± 16.7	55.1 ± 16.8	53.0 ± 13.2	50.0 ± 13.9	53.5 ± 15.2

Table 2

Influence of clinical examination and groin ultrasonography findings on surgical decision-making

Scenario	No. (%) of groins n = 476
Underwent inguinal hernia repair (S+)	315 (66.2)
Clinically detectable hernia leading to surgery (CE+, S+) (n = 364)	310 (85.2)
Hernia detected by routine US leading to surgery (independent of CE findings) (CE+/−, US+, S+) (n = 310)	202 (65.2)
Clinical examination significantly affected decision to treat surgically (CE +/−, S+/−)	390 (81.9)
Positive US findings leading to surgery in absence of positive CE findings (CE−, US+, S+) (n = 103)	5 (4.8)
Routine US significantly affected decision to treat surgically (US+, S+) (n = 336)	5 (1.5)