ArticleHernia : the journal of hernias and abdominal wall surgery2025
The learning curve for the Shouldice Repair: a pilot analysis of post-training specialized surgeons at the Shouldice Hospital.
Article in Hernia : the journal of hernias and abdominal wall surgery, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Chronic pain after Shouldice versus Lichtenstein inguinal hernia repair: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Hernia : the journal of hernias and abdominal wall surgery · 2026Pooled it
- Is quantity quality? The impact of surgeon volume on outcomes in inguinal hernia repair: a quantitative systematic review.Hernia : the journal of hernias and abdominal wall surgery · 2025Pooled it
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeThe aim of the study was to evaluate operative time and postoperative complications of 4 post-training specialized surgeons.
methodsThis was a pilot retrospective chart review to determine the learning curve of a Shouldice primary inguinal hernia repair (Shouldice Repair) of 4 post-training specialized surgeons, at the Shouldice Hospital. The first 300 Shouldice Repairs (early learning block) were compared to their 900-1,000 repairs as the primary operating surgeon (late learning block). Data was collected from the hospital's database. The learning curve was examined using cumulative sum analysis (CUSUM).
resultsDuring the early learning block cases, the surgeons had a mean operating time of 59.2 ± 11.2 min. The late learning block cases had significantly reduced operative time (53.4 ± 10.5 min, p = 0.001). According to the CUSUM analysis all four surgeons had a plateau after 78 to 88 operations in terms of operative time. A nonsignificant reduction in the rate of reported recurrences (n = 16 vs. n = 0) and surgical site occurrences (haematoma, seroma, infection; n = 27 vs. n = 2) was found between the early and late learning block cases.
conclusionThe operating time plateaued after 78-88 Shouldice Repairs for the 4 surgeons trained and working at the Shouldice Hospital. A nonsignificant trend towards fewer complications were noted among late learning block cases.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.