Risk of incarceration of inguinal hernia among infants and young children awaiting elective surgery.

ABSTRACT:

Background

We determined the rate of incarceration of inguinal hernia among infants and young children waiting for elective surgery and examined the relation to wait times. We also explored the relation between wait times and the use of emergency department services before surgery.

Methods

We used linked data from administrative databases to identify infants and children less than 2 years of age who underwent surgical repair of an inguinal hernia between Apr. 1, 2002, and Mr. 31, 2004. We determined the rate of hernia incarceration during the wait for surgery and stratified the risk by patient age and sex. We used logistic regression analysis to examine factors associated with hernia incarceration and wait times.

Results

A total of 1065 infants and children less than

SUBMITTER: Zamakhshary M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2572665 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature