Risk factors for bowel resection among patients with incarcerated groin hernias: A meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND

Early recognition of the risk of bowel resection of patients with incarcerated groin hernia will facilitate the clinical decision making of surgeons and improve the outcomes of patients. This study aimed to quantitatively analyse the risk factors of bowel resection in incarcerated groin hernia patients.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

A systematic literature search for studies on risk factors of bowel resection in incarcerated groin hernia patients was performed in the PubMed and Embase databases from inception until July 15, 2019. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale was used to evaluate the quality of included study. Review Manager version 5.3 was used for data analysis.

RESULTS

Seven articles with a total of 762 patients published between 2004 and 2017 were included. The total rate of bowel resection was 21.0% (160/762). Eight factors were significantly related to the risk of bowel resection in the pooled analysis: female sex, age, age (>65 years), femoral hernia, bowel obstruction, duration of incarceration (hours), white blood cell count, and neutrophilic leukocyte count. Patients who underwent bowel resection had a significantly increased hospitalization times and postoperative complications.

CONCLUSION

The 8 risk factors mentioned above are significantly associated with bowel resection in incarcerated groin hernia patients. The results of this meta-analysis provide a strong reference for the decision making of surgeons in the treatment of incarcerated groin hernia, facilitating the timely surgery and improving the outcome of patients.