Timing of automatic contralateral groin exploration in male infants with unilateral hernias.

The effect of using 6 months as the cutoff age for automatic exploration of the asymptomatic contralateral side in male infants undergoing inguinal herniorrhaphy was studied by evaluating the operative findings and follow-up of 300 consecutive male infants admitted for symptomatic unilateral groin hernias. Males under the age of 6 months were automatically explored on the contralateral asymptomatic side. Those between 6 and 24 months underwent repair of only the symptomatic presenting side. The negative exploration rate in the 121 infants less than 6 months was 38 per cent. The return rate for contralateral exploration in children between 6 months and 2 years was 1 per cent. Follow-up ranged from 1 to 5 years. This data suggests that lowering the age for automatic exploration of the male contralateral groin to 6 months does not increase the rate of positive findings on the asymptomatic side. Nor does it appreciably increase the rate of later required contralateral operations.