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
. 2022 Feb;36(2):1476-1481.
doi: 10.1007/s00464-021-08432-y. Epub 2021 Apr 6.

Driving ability after right-sided inguinal hernia surgery

Paul Bellmann #  1   2 , Caecilia Ng #  1 , Markus Süss  3 , Lukas Moroder  4 , Martin Krismer  4 , Thomas Schmid  1 , Michael Liebensteiner  4
Affiliations

Driving ability after right-sided inguinal hernia surgery

Paul Bellmann et al. Surg Endosc. 2022 Feb.

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate driving ability (brake reaction time, BRT) after right-sided hernia repair. It was assumed that postoperatively BRT would be impaired as compared to the preoperative reference and healthy controls.

Methods: BRT was prospectively collected from 30 patients undergoing hernia repair [Lichtenstein or total extraperitoneal endoscopic procedure (TEP)]. BRT was measured with a driving simulator preoperatively and on postoperative days 2 and 14. After receiving a visual stimulus, the patients had to apply the brake pedal with 160 N. The average of ten runs was used as the patient's BRT value.

Results: Thirty patients completed all measurements. In the Lichtenstein group, BRT was significantly impaired as compared to the patient's preoperative values (p = 0.021). Two weeks after surgery BRT had returned to the preoperative level (p = 0.859). BRT in the Lichtenstein group was also significantly impaired 2 days postoperatively as compared to the BRT of 60 healthy controls (p = 0.001). In the TEP group, no impaired BRT was detected.

Conclusions: Based on our finding of significantly impaired BRT in patients following right-sided Lichtenstein hernia repair, it seems wise to recommend that such patients refrain from driving for 2 weeks after surgery. No such impairment was found in patients following TEP surgery. Consequently, it is deemed safe for them to resume driving 2 days after the procedure.

Keywords: BRT; Break reaction time; Driving ability; Hernia repair; Lichtenstein; TEP.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Al-khayer A, Schueler A, Kruszewski G, Armstrong G, Grevitt MP (2008) Driver reaction time before and after treatment for lumbar radiculopathy. Spine 33:1696–1700 - DOI
    1. Ganz SB, Levin AZ, Peterson MG, Ranawat CS (2003) Improvement in driving reaction time after total hip arthroplasty. Clin Orthop Relat Res 413:192–200 - DOI
    1. Pierson JL, Earles DR, Wood K (2003) Brake response time after total knee arthroplasty: when is it safe for patients to drive? J Arthroplast 18:840–843 - DOI
    1. Marques CJ, Cabri J, Barreiros J, Carita AI, Friesecke C, Loehr JF (2008) The effects of task complexity on brake response time before and after primary right total knee arthroplasty. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 89:851–855 - DOI
    1. MacDonald W, Owen JW (1988) The effect of total hip replacement on driving reactions. J Bone Joint Surg 70:202–205 - DOI

LinkOut - more resources