Prevention Technique of Postoperative Inguinal Hernia in Patients Undergoing Radical Prostatectomy for Localized Prostate Cancer.

To prevent inguinal hernia after retropubic radical prostatectomy, many urologists have utilized a prevention technique of inguinal hernia at the same time as retropubic radical prostatectomy. Here, we report the clinical benefit of the prevention technique of inguinal hernia as well as risk factors for the incidence of inguinal hernia. We investigated the medical records of 223 men who underwent retropubic radical prostatectomy for clinically localized prostate cancer between January 2007 and March 2013 at our medical center. We assessed the association between the postoperative inguinal hernia and variables such as age, body mass index, and previous abdominal surgery. Inguinal hernia-free survival was analyzed to verify risk factors of postoperative inguinal hernia. Of 223 patients, 67 (30 %) received prevention of inguinal hernia and 156 (70 %) did not. The median follow-up period after retropubic radical prostatectomy was 36 months (range, 3-58 months). Thirty one (14 %) patients developed unilateral or bilateral inguinal hernia after retropubic radical prostatectomy. The rate of postoperative inguinal hernia in prevented and non-prevented group was 3 % (2 of 67) and 19 % (29 of 156), respectively (P < 0.01, Mann-Whitney U test). Moreover, postoperative inguinal hernia-free survival in the prevention group was significantly longer than that in the non-prevented group (P < 0.01, log-rank test). In the prevention group, 1-, 2-, and 3-year inguinal hernia-free survival rates were 100 %, 96 %, and 96 %, respectively. Other clinical factors including age, body mass index, previous abdominal surgery, and previous inguinal hernia were not associated with the incidence of inguinal hernia in our cohort. The prevention technique was simple and safe to perform, and it could increase inguinal hernia-free survival rates after retropubic radical prostatectomy.