Purpose: The definition of chronic pain after inguinal hernioplasty and the methods of its assessment vary a great deal, which make it complicated to conduct meta-analyses. The primary aim of the present prospective study was to evaluate at which pain severity degree the quality-of-life scores will be reduced.
Method: A prospective study of patients operated for inguinal hernia was conducted. A pain questionnaire and a quality-of-life (QoL) questionnaire were completed.
Results: Altogether, 370 patients were investigated and included in analysis. Of them, 33.8% experienced pain during different activities. Compared to the non-pain response group, significantly lower QoL scores for the Bodily pain domain were reported by patients who gave 1, 2, or 3 positive responses to the pain questionnaire. Patients with no pain as well as patients who gave 1 positive response to the pain questionnaire and whose VAS score was ≤20 had similar QoL scores for all domains. Patients who gave 1 positive response to the pain questionnaire and whose VAS score was >20, and patients who gave two or more positive responses to the pain questionnaire, showed significantly lower QoL scores in most of the domains compared with the non-pain group. When the patients who gave 1 positive response to the pain questionnaire and whose VAS score was ≤20 were excluded from the group of patients with pain, the rate of chronic pain was 19.7%. Considering the above result, the reduction in the rate of chronic pain from 33.8 to 19.7% was statistically significant.
Conclusion: Pain scores 20 mm or less on the VAS (0 to 100 mm) have no impact on the patients' quality of life. Uniform assessment methods of chronic pain should be developed to improve the quality of research.
Keywords: Chronic pain; Inguinal hernia; Lichtenstein hernioplasty; Quality of life.