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Background: Laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair has been shown to offer patients the benefit of less postoperative pain as compared to traditional open techniques. However, the risk of experiencing significant postoperative pain may affect patient's decision making. We aimed to elucidate potential patterns of pain and the predictors of such, up to 2 years postoperatively, using both generic and specific quality of life tools.Methods: Patients undergoing laparoscopic totally extra-peritoneal inguinal hernia repair were identified from a prospectively maintained database. Short form-36, Surgical Outcomes Measurement System (SOMS) and Carolinas Comfort Scale (CCS) surveys were administered pre- and postoperatively at 3 weeks, 6 months, 1 and 2 years. Patients with concomitant procedures were excluded. Significant pain was considered mild but bothersome or worse on either specific tool (SOMS scores ≥3/4, CCS scores ≥2). Predictors of significant pain were determined by logistic regression.Results: From 2009 to 2015, 482 patients enrolled in our database underwent elective TEP repair of 626 hernias and completed an assessment tool. Mean age was 57 (±15) years, with 93 % male. Reported pain on all three tools improved significantly from baseline over time (p < 0.01). Significant pain on either specific tool, related or unrelated to surgery, was reported by 52 % of respondents (158/301) preoperatively, and postoperatively by 50 % at 3 weeks (111/220), 21 % at 6 months (15/70), 13 % at 1 year (14/108), and 25 % at 2 years (30/121). Significant pain at 6 months-2 years correlated more significantly with general health status than surgical factors.Conclusions: Significant pain can be as high as 50 % at 3 weeks on surgery-specific quality of life measures, but with significant improvement by 6 months which is maintained through 2 years. Poor quality of life and general health were the main predictors of pain after 6 months. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) is a promising therapy in the treatment of achalasia. The study was designed to report outcomes, including quality of life, in patients with at least 1-year follow-up.Methods: Patients from an institutional review board-approved protocol underwent POEM and were followed prospectively. Health-related quality of life was measured preoperatively and 1 year post-operatively using Short Form-36 Health Survey version 2 (SF-36v2). Comparisons were made with patients from a prospective database who underwent laparoscopic Heller myotomy (LHM) over the same period. Paired t tests were used to analyze all normally distributed data, while Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were used to analyze SF-36 data, as it does not follow a normal distribution.Results: We analyzed 41 consecutive POEM patients with at least 1-year follow-up. Significant improvements in quality of life between baseline and 1 year were found in role limitations due to physical health (81.8 ± 25.8 vs. 65.9 ± 31.6, p = 0.01) and social functioning (83 ± 19.1 vs. 64.6 ± 31.3, p = 0.01). When compared to 24 patients who underwent LHM, there was no difference in average Eckardt scores (0.9 ± 1.6 vs. 1.0 ± 1.3, p > 0.05) or incidence of PPI use (43.5 vs. 47.5 %, p = 0.71). However, when looking at just type III patients, POEM patients had a higher remission rate (100 vs. 62.5 %) and significantly lower post-operative Eckardt scores at 1 year (1.1 vs. 3.1, p < 0.05). The average myotomy length of type III achalasia patients undergoing POEM was 18.6 cm (±6.9) compared to 10.3 cm (±1.0) in LHM patients (p < 0.01), which may have contributed to this difference.Conclusion: POEM provides a significant quality of life benefit at 1 year while having similar relief of dysphagia and post-operative PPI use compared to LHM. Type III achalasia patients may have better outcomes with POEM compared to LHM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The lack of long-term data on quality of life after groin hernia repair presents a challenge in setting patients' postoperative expectations. This study aimed to describe quality of life outcomes after laparoscopic totally extraperitoneal groin hernia repair with a minimum of 2 years follow-up.Study Design: We prospectively evaluated 293 patients who had laparoscopic totally extraperitoneal groin hernia repair in an IRB-approved study. The Short-Form 36-item Health Survey (version 2), Surgical Outcomes Measurement System, and Carolinas Comfort Scale were administered pre- and postoperatively. Pairwise comparisons using nonparametric Wilcoxon signed rank test were made between time points.Results: Mean patient age was 56 ± 15 years and 93% were male; 80% of patients presented with painful hernias and 15% of hernias were recurrent. Mean operative time was 43 ± 16 minutes. No operative complications occurred. Mean duration of narcotic pain medication use was 2.5 ± 3.4 days, and daily activities were resumed and return to work occurred 5.4 ± 4.4 days and 5.4 ± 3.9 days post operation, respectively. Recurrence rate was 2%. The Short-Form 36-item Health Survey outcomes improved from baseline for domains of Physical Functioning, Role Limitations due to Physical Health, and Pain at 2 years post operation; Surgical Outcomes Measurement System outcomes improved for domains of Pain Impact on Quality of Life, Body Image, and Patient Satisfaction (p ≤ 0.05). The percentage of patients reporting no or mild but not bothersome symptoms on the Carolinas Comfort Scale at 2 years post operation for sensation of mesh, pain, and movement limitations were 98%, 95%, and 97%, respectively.Conclusions: Measuring both general and procedure-specific quality of life, patients' perceptions of health status improved significantly 2 years after laparoscopic totally extraperitoneal groin hernia repair. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]