ROLE OF STATINS IN PREVENTION OF INFECTION IN HERNIA MESH REPAIR; PROSPECTIVE STUDY

Background: There was good evidence suggests that statin may reduce the risk of infections and infectionrelated complications in all medical fields including surgery. Our objective was to assess the association between statin usage and risk of infections and related outcomes in inguinal hernia open mesh repair. Method: In this study, a total of 609 Egyptian patients, with different types of hernia underwent hernioplasty with mesh repair during period from May 2010 to April 2011. Review of their drug history divided them into two groups: Group A included 67 patients who were taken statin tablet regularly for at least 9 months and group B who included 542 patients with no drug intake. We documented any postoperative wound infection and compare between incidences of wound infection in the two groups. Results: In Group A, only 2 cases (2.9%) were found to have wound infection while in Group B, there were 22 cases (4%) that were found to have wound infection postoperatively. A significant difference is present between the t w o groups, (ρ = 0.05). Conclusions: Our results suggest that statin usage is associated with a beneficial effect in preventing postoperative wound infections in open mesh repair for hernias