European Pediatric Surgeons' Association Survey on Timing of Inguinal Hernia Repair in Premature Infants

Topic overview

Key takeaways

• 60% of European pediatric surgeons repair inguinal hernias before NICU discharge when incarceration history exists, 56% without history.
• For extremely premature infants (<32 weeks), only 43% delay surgery until after discharge, citing incarceration risk as primary concern.
• Open repair under general anesthesia remains most common (54%), though 27% use spinal anesthesia; laparoscopy used in only 11% of cases.
• 40% of surgeons never evaluate the contralateral side; 29% only check during laparoscopic repair, suggesting inconsistent practice patterns.
• 77% mandate overnight observation post-repair for premature infants, reflecting concern for postoperative apnea and cardiorespiratory events.

Keywords

Hashtags