Potential risk factors for inguinal hernia in women were investigated and the relative importance of these factors was quantified. In women, symptomatic but nonpalpable hernias often remain undiagnosed. However, knowledge on this subject only concerns hernia and operation characteristics, which have been obtained by review of case series. Virtually nothing is known about risk factors for inguinal hernia. The authors performed a hospital-based case-control study of 89 female patients with an incident inguinal hernia and 176 age-matched female controls. Activity since birth with two validated questionnaires was measured and smoking habits, medical and operation history, Quetelet index (kg/m2), and history of pregnancies and deliveries were recorded. Response for cases was 81% and for controls 73%. Total physical activity was not associated with inguinal hernia (univariate odds ratio (OR) = 0.8, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.6-1.1), but high present sports activities was associated with less inguinal hernia (multivariate OR = 0.2, 95% CI 0.1-0.7). Obesity (Quetelet index > 30) was also protective for inguinal hernia (OR = 0.2, 95% CI 0.04-1.0). Independent risk factors were positive family history (OR = 4.3, 95% CI 1.9-9.7) and obstipation (OR = 2.5, 95% CI 1.0-6.7). In particular, smoking, appendectomy, other abdominal operations, and multiple deliveries were not associated with inguinal hernia in females. The protective effect of present sports activity may be explained by optimizing the resistance of the abdominal musculature protecting the relatively small inguinal weak spot in the female. The individual predisposition for inguinal hernia may be quantified by these risk factors, and, with this in mind, the authors advise that further evaluation might be needed for the patient with unexplained inguinal pain.

Laparoscopic hernia repair results in a quicker recovery.

The aim of the present study was to determine factors that significantly predict gap crossing in toddlers. Forward multiple regression was performed including anthropomorphic measures, walking skill parameters, walking experience, and age as independent variables and gap crossing threshold as the dependent variable. Seventy-six percent of the variance in gap crossing thresholds was explained by the amount of walking experience. No other variable significantly contributed to the amount of explained variance. Thus, walking experience is the most significant predictor of the affordance of gap crossing in toddlers. The fact that walking experience, but not age, significantly predicts gap crossing thresholds, strongly opposes a strictly maturational point of view of motor development and favours the ecological point of view, in which appropriate coupling of action and perception arises through exploration of the environment.

Laparoscopic hernia repair results in a quicker recovery.

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