Is contralateral inguinal exploration justified in a child presenting with unilateral inguinal hernia?

Aim: to analyze retrospectively the occurrence of hernia or hydrocele in patients who have already undergone unilateral inguinal herniotomy. design: retrospective descriptive study place and duration: paediatric surgery department,services hospital,lahore from may,2011 to may,2014 results: 1195 patients underwent inguinal herniotomy for unilateral inguinal inguinal hernia or hydrocele. there address and cell numbers were recorded and they were put on regular follow up. the mean duration of follow up was six months to two and half years. all patients were analyzed for swelling on contralateral inguinal swelling. only 8 patients presented with contralateral swelling during three and half years of follow up period. these patients were evaluated for other predisposing factors. among 1195 patients,inguinal hernia was more common in boys than girls (7.8: 1) with predominantly involving right side (56%) followed by left side (37.01%) and bilateral inguinal hernia (6.7%). about one quarter (26.3%) of patients were in infantile age with a mean age of presentation being 49.9 months. almost half of patients were referred from the periphery of the province. complication rates were minimal; however scrotal swelling was found in 4.3% of patients postoperatively. most commonly found associated anomaly encountered with inguinal hernia was undescended testis. conclusion: contralateral inguinal exploration is not statistically justified in patients presenting with unilateral inguinal hernia or hydrocele. although the inguinal hernia is a common surgical condition and inguinal herniotomy is one of the most commonly performed surgery and it is associated with minimmal post operative complications,unnecessary contralateral exploration may increase the post operative morbidity,doubles the complication and may increase the post operative hospital stay.