Postoperative inguinal hernia after radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer

OBJECTIVES To determine the incidence of inguinal hernia after radical prostatectomy and compare it with the incidence in patients with prostate cancer treated with radiotherapy. We also analyzed the effect of potential risk factors for inguinal hernia after radical prostatectomy. METHODS We investigated the medical records of 53, 43, and 74 men who underwent open radical retropubic prostatectomy (RRP), laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (LRP), or radiotherapy with or without laparoscopic pelvic lymph node dissection, respectively, and evaluated the respective incidence of inguinal hernia after these therapies. The risk factors were analyzed using a Cox proportional hazards model. RESULTS The incidence of inguinat hernia was 17% (9 of 53), 14.0% (6 of 43), and 1.4% (1 of 74) in open RRP, LRP, and radiotherapy groups, respectively. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards analysis demonstrated that open RRP and LRP were significant risk factors for the development of inguinal hernia. CONCLUSIONS Urologists should be aware that inguinal hernia is an important postoperative complication of open RRP. More interestingly, even LRP could promote the development of postoperative inguinal hernia.