Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2011 Jan 19;2(1):5.
doi: 10.1258/shorts.2010.010071.

Frequency of abdominal wall hernias: is classical teaching out of date?

Natalie Dabbas  1 , K Adams, K Pearson, Gt Royle
Affiliations

Frequency of abdominal wall hernias: is classical teaching out of date?

Natalie Dabbas et al. JRSM Short Rep. .

Abstract

Objectives: Abdominal wall hernias are common. Various authors all quote the following order (in decreasing frequency): inguinal, femoral, umbilical followed by rarer forms. But are these figures outdated? We investigated the epidemiology of hernia repair (retrospective review) over 30 years to determine whether the relative frequencies of hernias are evolving.

Design: All hernia repairs undertaken in consecutive adult patients were assessed. Data included: patient demographics; hernia type; and operation details. Data were analysed using Microsoft Excel 2007 and SPSS.

Setting: A SINGLE UNITED KINGDOM HOSPITAL TRUST DURING THREE PERIODS: 1985-1988; 1995-1998; and 2005-2008.

Main outcome measures: Frequency data of different hernia types during three time periods, patient demographic data.

Results: Over the three time periods, 2389 patients underwent 2510 hernia repairs (i.e. including bilateral and multiple hernias in a single patient). Inguinal hernia repair was universally the commonest hernia repair, followed by umbilical, epigastric, para-umbilical, incisional and femoral, respectively. Whereas femoral hernia repair was the second commonest in the 1980s, it had become the fifth most common by 2005-2008. While the proportion of groin hernia repairs has decreased over time, the proportion of midline abdominal wall hernias has increased.

Conclusion: THE CURRENT RELATIVE FREQUENCY OF DIFFERENT HERNIA REPAIR TYPE IS: inguinal; umbilical; epigastric; incisional; para-umbilical; femoral; and finally other types e.g. spigelian. This contrasts with hernia incidence figures quoted in common reference books.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Sites of external hernias
Figure 2
Figure 2
Graph comparing study results to previously published hernia frequency
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Rains AJH, Capper WM Bailey & Love's Short Practice of Surgery. 15th edn London: Lewis, 1971
    1. David C, Sabiston JR Davis-Christopher Textbook of Surgery. 12th edn London: Elsevier Health Sciences, 1981
    1. Kingsworth A, LeBlanc K Hernias: inguinal and incisional. Lancet 2003;362:1561–71 - PubMed
    1. MacFadyen BV, Mathis CR Inguinal herniorrhaphy: complications and recurrence. Semin Laparosc Surg 1994;1:128. - PubMed
    1. Kurzer M, Kark AE, Wantz GE Surgical management of abdominal wall hernia. London: Martin Dunitz Ltd, 1999