[Shouldice herniotomy]

Abstract

The Shouldice operation has evolved to become the classic procedure for open pure tissue repair for inguinal hernias. The operation is an important part of a surgeon's repertoire as he may need to perform the procedure at some critical time, especially when faced with strangulation, when tension-free prosthetic repairs and laparoscopic approaches fail. When properly done, the Shouldice repair yields results that have set standards for all other techniques to emulate. Other particular advantages of the technique are: safety, the use of local anaesthesia, benign postoperative complications and the cost, which is the most reasonable of all surgical techniques.