Einsatz einer stützenden Herrenunterhose bei elektiven skrotalen Eingriffen: Eine prospektive, randomisierte Bewertung hinsichtlich postoperativer Komplikationsraten und gesundheitsbezogener Lebensqualität

BACKGROUND: Elective scrotal surgery is associated with a high rate of postoperative complications. There is no specific recommendation for postoperative care. AIM: We investigated whether support underwear has an impact on postoperative complications and quality of life. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From July 2020 to November 2021, patients with prior elective scrotal surgery were randomized into the intervention group “support underwear” or the control group. In addition to patient characteristics, intraoperative and postoperative findings were documented. The primary endpoint comprised postoperative complications. Secondary endpoints were prolonged length of hospital stay, emergency visits, unplanned readmissions, increased use of analgesics, and quality of life, which was recorded using the EQ5D (European Quality of Life 5 Dimensions) questionnaire preoperatively, on day 1 and 4 weeks postoperatively. RESULTS: Data from 50 patients were analyzed. The mean age was 46.7 years (standard deviation [SD] 18.6). Inguinal surgery with/without orchiectomy (52%), hydrocele resection (22%), or ligation of varicocele (14%) were performed most frequently. The mean operating time was 62.8 min (SD 35.2); length hospital stay was 2.6 days (SD 1.2). In all, 20% of the patients suffered a postoperative complication. Type of surgery was significantly associated with postoperative complications (p = 0.01) and unplanned readmission (p = 0.04). Regarding biometric and perioperative data, there were no significant differences between the interventional group (n = 27) and control group (n = 23). CONCLUSION: A nonnegligible number of complications occurs after elective scrotal surgery. Complications affects quality of life up to 4 weeks after the surgery. Postoperative care with support underwear does not appear to affect the postoperative complication rate, but it positively influences the quality of life in patients with scrotal access. GRAPHIC ABSTRACT: [Image: see text]