Quality of life following Shouldice Repair: a prospective cohort study among inguinal hernia patients

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate quality of life from the preoperative time to six months after surgery of patients who underwent a Shouldice Repair for primary inguinal hernia.

Methods: After ethical approval, consent was obtained, and data collected from surveys and chart review. The study population was composed of male and female patients aged 16-90 years of age, who had a Shouldice Repair of a primary unilateral inguinal hernia. The EQ-5D-3L, a questionnaire applied to hernia surgery in Canada, was used to determine quality of life at the preoperative and 1 week, 1- and 6-month postoperative time. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, as well as inferential analysis.

Results: From January 2023 to February 2024, 532 participants met the criteria, completed and returned the preoperative survey, and underwent primary inguinal hernia repair. The participants were mostly male (94%) with an average age of 62.18 years and BMI of 24.93 kg/m². The EQ-5D-3L health index scores and EQ-VAS health status at preoperative were 0.83 ± 0.13 and 79.5 ± 12.59. At the 1-month postoperative time, health index scores and health status had significantly increased from preoperative (score:0.91 ± 0.12, p = .001; status 83.56 ± 12.93, p = .001), and continued to significantly increase from baseline at the 6-month postoperative time (score:0.95 ± 0.10, p = .001; status:85.25 ± 12.17, p < .001).

Conclusion: Quality of life, as measured by the ED-5D-3L health index score, significantly improved for patients that underwent a Shouldice Repair for an inguinal hernia.