Background: Inguinal hernia repair represents one of the most common operations performed in children. It is also important to study the factors which are associated with inguinal hernia, especially in children, for its effective management.

Objective: To study the incidence of inguinal hernia in children in a general surgery department in a rural medical college

Patients and Methods: A retrospective hospital based study was undertaken in the Department of surgery at Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Medical College, Barpeta, Assam for a period of three years between 2013 to 2015. Children who were aged one year to 12 years were selected for the study. During this period 80 children of uncomplicated congenital inguinal hernia were admitted to the surgery department which constituted the sample. The detail clinical history and physical examination were done, and data collected by using a predesigned proforma. The data which was thus collected was analyzed by using the appropriate statistical tests.

Results: The inguinal hernia in the study group was common in the 5-10 years age group. 85% of the study group were males and 15% were females. A swelling in the inguinal region was the commonest symptom. Right sided hernia constituted 52 cases (65%).

Conclusions: Present study shall help in understanding incidence of congenital inguinal hernias, anatomical and sex distribution, beside difficulties encountered in their management in a general surgical unit. This study will help in a better management of congenital inguinal hernias by general surgeons.

Keywords: Congenital malformations, Inguinal Hernia, children, hernia repair.

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Dr Devid Hazarika

Department of Surgery, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Medical College, Barpeta, Assam, India

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