Abstract

BACKGROUND: Inguinal hernia is a common surgical disease. Tension-free hernioplasty is currently commonly used for its treatment, with multiple advantages such as simple surgical method, low recurrence rate, and ability to be performed in primary care hospitals, but the risk of incision infection still exists. Mild infection can be cured by local washing, dressing, and systemic antibiotics. If the infection is severe, the wound may not heal after removing the patch, and secondary suturing is needed.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 60 patients with postoperative infection after tension-free repair of inguinal hernia were randomly divided into control (n=30) and treatment (n=30) groups. Patients in the treatment group received Mesalt combined with Mepilex for dressing while the patients in the control group received conventional gauze for dressing. Pain degree, wound healing time, and dressing times were observed.

RESULTS: The clinical therapeutic effect in the treatment group was significantly better than in the control group. The treatment group exhibited significantly less pain when patients receive dressing, shorter wounds healing time (15±3.5 vs. 30±5.0), and less dressing frequency (10±2.1 vs. 20±2.4).

CONCLUSIONS: Mesalt combined with Mepilex can effectively improve postoperative infection after inguinal hernia treatment, obviously reducing pain, shorting wound healing time, and decreasing dressing frequency. It can be widely used in clinical practice.

Keywords: Bandages, Hernia, Inguinal - therapy, Pain Measurement, Surgical Wound Infection - therapy, Time Factors, Wound Healing