Outpatient surgery of inguinal and crural hernias: a report on 468 cases.

A personal series of 468 inguinal and crural hernias treated with local anesthesia and outpatient surgery is reported. The marked advantages of loco-regional anesthesia are stressed and the various surgical procedures used in the different conditions examined. Need for maximum reduction of suture tension is underlined. All patients of the series resumed immediate postoperative ambulation and a number were discharged within 1-2 hours returning to their working activity the day following surgery. Follow-up was performed for cases operated on from 6 months to 6 years: overall incidence of recurrence was 1.1% and 0.37% in cases where Marlex mesh was used, whose marked advantages are evidenced.