Female sex and ipsilateral reoperation risk following mesh-based inguinal hernia repair: a cohort study including 131,626 repairs in adults from an integrated healthcare system over a 10-year period.

In a large multi-center cohort of mesh-based inguinal hernia repair patients, we found a higher risk for reoperation in females after an open repair approach compared to males. Lower risk was observed for females through a minimally invasive approach (laparoscopic or robotic) and may be due to the ability to identify an occult femoral hernia through these approaches.