Inguinal hernia repair in the elderly.

Inguinal hernia repairs were performed on 452 patients during a 14-month period. Of these patients, 116 (26%) were aged greater than 65 years. Emergency hernia repair for incarceration or strangulation was more common in the elderly (16.4%) than in those aged less than 65 years (4.4%) (P less than 0.001). Postoperative complications were significantly more common after emergency (58%) than elective repair (22%) of hernias in the elderly (P less than 0.01). There were two deaths (operative mortality 10%) following emergency repair and none after elective surgery. The average length of hospital admission was 5 days, rising to 10 days in cases suffering complications. Because of the high morbidity and mortality associated with emergency repair in the elderly, all inguinal hernias should be repaired electively unless there is an overwhelming contraindication to surgical intervention.