• Filip E Muysoms, Aude Vanlander, Robrecht Ceulemans, Iris Kyle-Leinhase, Maarten Michiels, Ivo Jacobs, Pieter Pletinckx, and Frederik Berrevoet.
• Department of Surgery, Maria Middelares Hospital, Ghent, Belgium. Electronic address: filip.muysoms@azmmsj.be.
• Surgery. 2016 Nov 1; 160 (5): 1344-1357.

BackgroundThere is an increasing interest in patient-reported outcome measurement to evaluate hernia operations. Several hernia-specific quality of life (QoL) scales have been proposed, but none are constructed for preoperative assessment.MethodsThe European Registry for Abdominal Wall Hernias (EuraHS) proposed the short, 9-question EuraHS-QoL instrument for assessment pre- and postoperatively. The EuraHS-QoL was evaluated in a prospective, multicenter validation study alongside the Visual Analogue Scale, Verbal Rating Scale, and Carolina Comfort Scale (https://clinicaltrials.gov; NCT01936584).ResultsWe included 101 patients undergoing unilateral laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair with ProGrip laparoscopic, self-fixating mesh. Clinical follow-up at 12 months was 87% complete. The EuraHS-QoL score shows good internal consistency (Cronbach's α ≥ .90), good test-retest reliability (Spearman correlation coefficient r ≥ 0.72), and high correlation for pain with the Visual Analogue Scale, the Verbal Rating Scale, the Carolina Comfort Scale pain scale (r between 0.64 and 0.86), and for restriction of activity with the Carolina Comfort Scale movement scale (r between 0.65 and 0.79). Our results show significant improvement in quality of life at 3 weeks compared with preoperative and further significant improvement at 12 months (P < .05). No late complications or recurrences were recorded. An operation was performed in day surgery (>75%) or with a <24-hour admission (>95%) in the majority of the patients.ConclusionThe EuraHS-QoL instrument is a short and valid patient-reported outcome measurement following groin hernia repair. Laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair with ProGrip laparoscopic, self-fixating mesh results in a favorable outcome and significant improvement of quality of life compared with the preoperative assessment.Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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