Care of patients undergoing day case inguinal hernia repair.

Inguinal hernia repair is a common operation often performed as a day case procedure. Day surgery is popular with patients and offers many benefits. This article outlines the most common forms of hernia repair and discusses the need for general or local anaesthesia. Basic principles of day surgery management, including patient selection criteria, pain relief, post-operative information, nurse-led discharge and subsequent aftercare are described, many of which are applicable to other day surgery procedures.