Effect of chronic diseases on perioperative events among patients undergoing inguinal hernia surgery in a tertiary-care hospital
Omeshwar Subramanian, Vikas C. Kawarat, Shanmugam Vijayalakshmi, Kazzali Ahmed, Ethirajulu GowthamAbstract
BACKGROUND:
Inguinal hernia repair is a common elective surgical procedure. With the increasing burden of noncommunicable diseases, many patients undergoing hernia surgery have chronic illnesses that may influence perioperative stability and recovery. Evidence regarding perioperative events in this group remains limited, especially in resource-constrained settings.
MATERIALS AND METHODS:
This hospital-based prospective observational cohort study included 65 adult patients undergoing elective inguinal hernia surgery in a tertiary-care hospital. Patients were categorized into two groups based on the presence or absence of chronic diseases. Demographic, clinical, surgical, and anesthetic details were collected prospectively using a structured questionnaire. Perioperative events, including intraoperative complications and immediate postoperative outcomes, were recorded using predefined clinical criteria and analyzed using descriptive statistics and multivariable logistic regression.
RESULTS:
Patients with chronic diseases showed a trend toward a higher frequency of intraoperative events, including bleeding, anesthesia-related events, hemodynamic instability, and cardiopulmonary events; however, most individual comparisons were not statistically significant. The presence of any chronic disease showed increased odds of intraoperative complications, but this association did not reach statistical significance (adjusted odds ratio: 2.62; 95% confidence interval: 0.94–7.32;
CONCLUSION:
Preexisting chronic diseases may be associated with a higher frequency of perioperative events and prolonged postoperative hospital stay among patients undergoing elective inguinal hernia repair. However, these findings should be interpreted cautiously due to the limited sample size and nonsignificant results for most individual outcomes. Careful preoperative assessment, optimization of comorbidities, and close intraoperative monitoring may improve perioperative care.