Outcome of Emergency Hernia Repairs at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital: A Descriptive Analysis

Inguinal and femoral hernias represent a substantial proportion of emergency surgical cases managed in Nigerian teaching hospitals. Delayed presentation, often due to financial constraints and poor health-seeking behavior, results in strangulation and bowel resection, significantly increasing operative risk. This descriptive study evaluates the outcomes of emergency hernia repairs performed at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital in Edo State, South South Nigeria, over a four-year period from 2020 to 2023. Hospital case notes of 180 patients were reviewed, capturing preoperative patient status, hernia type, operative findings, postoperative complications, and in-hospital mortality. Descriptive statistics and frequency distributions were used to summarize findings. The majority of patients presented with irreducible hernias, with 34% requiring bowel resection due to gangrenous bowel. Postoperative wound infections and prolonged hospital stay were the most frequent complications. Mortality was observed in patients with delayed presentations exceeding 48 hours from the onset of obstruction. The study concludes that community-level surgical awareness campaigns and affordable hernia repair programs could reduce emergency presentations and associated morbidity. It further recommends that government-funded surgical outreach programs be scaled up across underserved communities in the South South geopolitical zone. Keywords: hernia repair, emergency surgery, strangulation, Benin, postoperative outcomes