Does timing of neonatal inguinal hernia repair affect outcomes?

Purpose: The purpose of this studywas to examine practice variability and compare outcomes between early and delayed neonatal inguinal hernia repair (IHR). Methods: Patients admitted to neonatal intensive care units with a diagnosis of IH who underwent IHR by age 1 year in the Pediatric Health Information System from1999 to 2011were included. IHR after the index hospitalization was considered delayed. Inter-hospital variability in the proportion of delayed repairs and differences in outcomes for each group were compared. A propensity score matched analysis was performed to account for baseline differences between treatment groups. Results: Of the 2030 patients identified, 32.9% underwent delayed IHR with significant variability in the proportion of patients having delayed repair across hospitals (p < 0.0001). More patients in the delayed group had a congenital anomaly or received life supportive measures prior to IHR (all p b 0.01), and 8.2% of patients undergoing delayed repair had a diagnosis of incarceration at repair.More patients in the early group underwent reoperation for herniawithin 1 year (5.9% vs. 3.7%, p=0.02). Resultswere similar after performing a propensity score matched analysis. Conclusions: Significant variability in practice exists between children's hospitals in the timing of IHR, with delayed repair associated with incarceration and early repair with a higher rate of reoperation.