Proportion of femoral hernia repairs performed for recurrence in the United States

Purpose: Recurrence rates after femoral hernia repair (FHR) have not been reliably established in the USA. We sought to determine this trend over time. Methods: The proportion of primary and recurrent FHRs was determined for patients age ≥ 18 from: ACS-NSQIP (1/2005–12/2014), Premier (1/2010–09/2015), and institutional (1/2005–12/2014) data. Trends were analyzed using a one-tailed Cochran–Armitage test. Results: In the NSQIP database, 6649 patients underwent a FHR. In females, the proportion of FHRs performed for recurrence decreased from 14.0% in 2005 to 6.2% in 2014, p = 0.02. In males, there was no change: 16.7–16.1% 2005–2014 (p = 0.18). The Premier database included 4495 FHRs and our institution 315 FHRs. There was no difference for either gender over time in either data source, all p > 0.05. Conclusions: The proportion of femoral hernia repairs performed for recurrence in the USA remained relatively constant in males in two large national databases between 2005 and 2015. In females, a decrease was seen in one of the large national databases.