To explore the timing and indication of mesh removal under acute infection after inguinal hernia repair.

From January 2016 to October 2018, twelve patients with acute infection after repair of inguinal hernia were treated in theFirst Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University. The clinical results were retrospectively analyzed and the treatment experience was summarized.

In this group, the patients were diagnosed of infection in 1 week to 1 month after the surgery, and the infected meshes wereremoved after conservative treatment for 3 weeks to 5 months after diagnosis. The latter 4 cases were treated withthe self-made scoring system to determine the timing of mesh removal. Of these, 10 patients discharged from hospital with good incision healing after removal of infected mesh, and one patient underwent reoperation to remove residual mesh. One patient with open incision sustained VSD after operation and died of myocardial infarction 3 weeks after operation. 11 patients were followed up for 5 months to 2.5 years. During the follow-up period, 1 case of inguinal hernia recurred, with no signs of infection. The other patients recovered well without hernia recurrence.

There is still a lack of standard for the timeofmesh removal of acute infection after inguinal hernia repair. The self-made scoring system in this study is a useful attempt.