Current practices in adult groin hernias: a survey of Japanese general surgeons.

The tendency to perform abdominal wall reinforcement using various types of mesh (tension-free repair) is increasing. A questionnaire to poll Japanese surgeons on their current surgical modalities for groin hernias was sent to 105 hospitals and was returned by 83 hospitals. The majority (83%) of responders to this survey supported the tension-free repair as a standard operation for adult groin hernias. Of these 69 tension-free repairs, the mesh-plug repair was the most frequent standard operation ( n = 53, 64%) and was performed by all responders. Ten (12%) opted for the prolene hernia system (PHS) repair as a standard operation and 52% of responders had experience of the PHS repair. Laparoscopic repair was performed as a standard operation by only one responder and was performed by only 34% of responders.