Analysis of Risk Factors for Children With Heterochronous Indirect Hernia

Inguinal hernia (IH) is one of the most common diseases in pediatric surgery with an overall rate of 0.8-4.4%1, and 75-90% of these patients were with unilateral inguinal hernia (UIH). Children with UIH have a chance of subsequently developing metachronous contralateral inguinal hernia (MCIH). Whether to explore the contralateral side in children with UIH has been debated for many decades. Surgeons used to practiced contralateral exploration in children due to the high reported incidence of a contralateral patent processus vaginalis (CPPV) and the increased risk of general anesthesia at the very young. Then surgeons noted that only few CPPV might develop into a clinical hernia, and routine exploration puts both testicles and both vas deferens at risk. Because of this fact, many surgeons have abandoned routine contralateral exploration.

As laparoscopic hernia repair is performed in children, CPPV exploration and ligation become much easier, without extra incision. A lot of literature reported that CPPV ligation could prevent MCIH and regarded this as a major benefit of laparoscopic hernia repair. Still, the laparoscopic CPPV rates (28%-66%) are much higher than the rates of MCIH developing (2.4% to 13.9%). Therefore one would need to perform 4 to 21 operations to prevent one future hernia. Whether to close the CPPV simultaneously in children with UIH is still controversial. We think that either yes or no is not the best answer. It is essential to identify the risk factors of MCIH to make the best strategies to balance the risks and benefits. We, therefore, designed a prospective observational study of pediatric patients with UIH to detect the risk factors of MCIH.

This is an multi-center investigator-initiated observational prospective trial. After informed all the benefits and risks of repair CPPV simultaneously, those patients with unilateral inguinal hernia whose parents preferred not to repair CPPV simultaneously will be assigned in the study. Patients included in this trial will receive laparoscopically extraperitoneal high ligation of the hernia sac and detection of the contralateral side. All information about demographic data, hernia side, CPPV type and CPPV diameter will be recorded. The subjects will be followed up until MCIH developing or to 24 months postoperatively. Patients will be analyzed to identify the risk factors for MH.