Epidemiology

Considering that surgery is the main elective treatment for repairing inguinal hernia, surgical audit data can be considered a reasonable indicator of incidence/prevalence rates. In England, from 2001 to 2002, approximately 70,000 surgical interventions were performed for inguinal hernias (62,969 primary hernias against 4939 recurrent hernias), equivalent to 0.14% of the overall population; requiring over 100,000 NHS hospital-bed days.[6] Audit data from 2014 to 2015 shows 69,637 primary inguinal hernia repair finished consultant episodes (not including recurrent hernia repairs), of which 92% were male.[7]

In the US, approximately 4.5 million people have an inguinal hernia, with around 500,000 new inguinal hernias diagnosed annually, though recent data are not available.[8][9] About 750,000 procedures were performed in 2003 across the US for inguinal hernia. Although the incidence and prevalence worldwide is unknown, it is estimated that over 20 million surgical procedures for inguinal hernia are performed each year.[2] Operation rates vary between countries, but range from 100 to 300 procedures per 100,000 people per year.[10] Although inguinal hernia can occur in both sexes, the disorder predominantly affects men (male to female ratio is 7-9:1).[11] In general, inguinal hernia affects all ages, but the incidence increases with age.[12][13][14] The lifetime risk of inguinal herniation is approximately 27% for men and 3% for women.[15] Inguinal hernia is bilateral in up to 20% of affected adults.[15][16] 

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