The Place of Spermatic Fascia Closure During Open Herniotomy in Male Children

INTRODUCTION: There is currently no consensus about closing or otherwise of the spermatic fascia at herniotomy in children. This stems from lack of evidence to justify either stand, and most literatures are silent on this. This study is an effort to evaluate the place of closure of the spermatic fascia at hernia repair. AIM: To determine if there is advantage in closing the spermatic fascia over leaving it open during herniotomy in children. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cases of inguinoscrotal hernia repaired by the same surgeon between July 2009 and June 2011 were randomly grouped into two; spermatic fascia closed (SC) and spermatic fascia open (SO) groups. They were assessed for operation duration, wound infection, scrotal hematoma, and scrotal edema post repair. The Data obtained was collated and analyzed using the SPSS 17.0. RESULTS: Seventy-six male children with unilateral complete inguinoscrotal hernia were included in this study. The overall mean duration of operation was 32.9 min (SD = 5.7); range 21-52 min. There was hematoma formation in 7 (17.9%) of the SC group and 9 (24.3%) of the SO group (P = 0.5). Scrotal edema occurred in 24 (64.8%) of the SO and 18 (46.2%) of the SC group (P = 0.3). No other complications were recorded during the period of study. CONCLUSION: There is no demonstrable advantage or disadvantage in closing the spermatic fascia at herniotomy for children. We conclude that the choice to close or not to close the spermatic fascia at herniotomy for children should be at the discretion of the individual surgeon.