Combined transurethral prostatectomy and inguinal hernia repair: a retrospective audit and literature review.

OBJECTIVE: To audit the results of combined transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) and inguinal hernia repair, often carried out under the same anaesthetic (because bladder outlet obstruction from prostatic disease and inguinal hernia are both common conditions in elderly men), to avoid two separate operations. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study included 85 patients who underwent primary inguinal hernia repair with TURP in the urology unit of Nottingham City hospital between 1989 and 1995, and who were recalled to a special clinic. The type of hernia and repair carried out were recorded and complications audited with specific reference to recurrence of hernia and wound infection. RESULTS: The 85 patients underwent 88 primary inguinal hernia repairs with TURP (three were bilateral). Maloney's darn repair was used on 55 and a Bassini repair on 33 occasions, respectively. Two patients developed mild wound infection after surgery, but only two patients (2%) had recurrence of hernia. CONCLUSIONS: The recurrence rate after primary inguinal herniorraphy with conventional methods of repair, performed with TURP, was comparable with published results of hernia repairs alone, before the introduction of Lichtenstein's mesh repair.