Hernia characteristics and patient factors associated with acute compared with elective groin hernia surgery are unknown.

A retrospective study of 1,034 consecutive groin hernia repair cases performed between 2001 and 2009 at a single Veterans Affairs Hospital was conducted. Patient variables, hernia characteristics, time to surgery, and morbidity and mortality outcomes were abstracted and compared between acute and elective hernia repairs. A Kaplan-Meier survival analysis for the two groups was also performed. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify associations between type of surgery, patient demographics, and hernia characteristics.

Compared with 971 elective repair patients, the 63 acute repair patients had a higher rate of femoral hernias (2.5% vs 7.4%, p = 0.03), a higher rate of scrotal hernias (16.2% vs 32.4%, p = 0.0006), and a higher rate of recurrent hernias (16.7% vs 30.9%, p = 0.0026). Patient age, femoral, scrotal, and recurrent hernias were significantly associated with acute hernia presentation on univariate and multivariable analyses. Complications occurred in 27% and 15.1% of acute and elective repair patients, respectively (p = 0.01). Intraoperative organ resection was required in 7 (11.1%) acute hernia repairs, and in 2 (0.2%) elective repairs (p < 0.0001). Three acute repair patients (4.8%) underwent reoperation within 30 days after surgery, compared with 15 elective repair patients (1.5%), p = 0.05. Age-adjusted Kaplan-Meier survival analysis revealed a shorter time to death among acute repair patients compared with elective repair patients (p < 0.0001).

Age, femoral, scrotal, and recurrent groin hernias are associated with increased risk for acute hernia surgery. Acute hernia repair carries a higher morbidity and lower survival.