What Is Normal After Robotic Hernia Repair and What Signals Infection or Recurrence?

The third morning after surgery is when people start studying their own abdomen. Three small dressings, a purple shadow spreading toward the hip, a hard little ridge under one incision that was not there yesterday. The phone is in one hand. The question is whether this is what healing looks like or whether it is one of the hernia surgery infection signs the discharge sheet warned about.

Most of the time the answer is reassuring. Robotic hernia repair leaves behind a fairly predictable set of sensations, and the body is loud about them. Infection and recurrence, by contrast, are usually quieter at first and then unmistakable. Knowing the difference is not about diagnosing yourself. It is about knowing when a normal morning of soreness becomes a reason to pick up the phone.

This explainer walks through what the operation actually does, what the following weeks tend to feel like, and the specific patterns that surgeons want to hear about early rather than late.

What actually happens during robotic hernia repair?

A hernia is a weak spot in the abdominal wall through which fat or a loop of bowel pushes outward. Repair means putting the contents back, closing or reinforcing the weak spot, and usually laying a sheet of surgical mesh across it so scar tissue grows into a stronger patch.

Robotic repair is a form of laparoscopic, or keyhole, surgery. The surgeon sits at a console a few feet from the patient and controls slim instruments that pass through three or four incisions, each roughly the width of a fingertip. A camera magnifies the view; the instruments bend at the wrist in ways a straight laparoscopic tool cannot. The robot does nothing on its own. Every movement is the surgeon’s.

Carbon dioxide gas is pumped into the abdomen to create working room, which matters later because leftover gas is behind the odd shoulder ache many people feel on day one. For groin hernias the mesh is usually placed behind the muscle layer, between the abdominal wall and the lining of the abdomen, so it sits flat and is held partly by the body’s own pressure. For hernias in the front of the abdomen the surgeon may also stitch the edges of the defect together before the mesh goes on.

The whole procedure is done under general anesthesia, meaning the patient is fully asleep, and most people go home the same day or after one night, according to the NHS description of keyhole hernia repair. What the patient experiences afterward is largely the body reacting to three things: the small incisions, the gas, and the mesh beginning to knit into the tissue. Those three sources explain most of what feels strange in the first fortnight.

Who is usually offered robotic repair, and who is asked to wait?

Surgeons tend to reach for a keyhole or robotic approach when a hernia is on both sides, when a previous open repair has come back, or when the person has a hernia in the abdominal wall where a wide sheet of mesh placed from the inside gives good coverage with small incisions. Mayo Clinic notes that a minimally invasive approach may allow less discomfort and quicker return to daily activity than open surgery, though the long-term outcomes of the two approaches are broadly similar.

Not everyone is a good candidate for the robotic route. Because the abdomen is inflated with gas and the operation is done asleep, people with severe heart or lung disease may be steered toward an open repair under a regional anesthetic. Extensive scarring from earlier abdominal operations can make the inside view unsafe to navigate. A hernia that is trapped and losing its blood supply is an emergency, and the fastest safe route is chosen rather than the most elegant one.

Some people are asked to wait, not because surgery is wrong but because timing is. Smokers are commonly asked to stop for several weeks beforehand, since nicotine narrows small blood vessels and slows wound healing. Poorly controlled blood sugar raises the risk of surgical site infection and is usually optimized first. A recent chest infection, a skin infection near the planned incisions, or an unstable medical condition may push the date back.

A small hernia that causes no symptoms is sometimes simply watched. The NHS notes that surgery is generally offered when a hernia is painful, growing, or at risk of trapping bowel; a painless one may be monitored instead. All of these are judgment calls that belong to the surgical team, weighed against the individual’s anatomy, health and preferences.

What do the first two weeks after robotic hernia repair usually look like?

Day one is often the day of the gas. Carbon dioxide left in the abdomen irritates the diaphragm, and the nerve that serves the diaphragm shares a pathway with the shoulder, so the ache turns up at the shoulder tip rather than the belly. Walking helps the gas disperse. Most people find it fades within a day or two.

Days two to four tend to be the sore ones. The incisions feel tight, coughing and sitting up need a hand braced against the abdomen, and the groin or lower abdomen may swell. Bruising appears, sometimes tracking downward with gravity into the thigh or scrotum. This looks alarming and is usually harmless: blood from the operative area has simply settled where it can.

Around the end of the first week the pattern should be one of slow improvement. The NHS advises that most people can return to light activities within one to two weeks and to more strenuous activity by about six weeks, depending on the individual and the type of repair. The key word is improvement. Pain that plateaus is common; pain that reverses direction after day three is not, and it is one of the earliest hernia surgery infection signs a surgeon listens for.

Bowels are frequently slow for several days. Anesthesia, reduced movement and opioid pain relief all contribute. Straining against a fresh repair is uncomfortable, so surgical teams usually give advice on fluids, fiber and stool softeners; follow whatever plan the team set.

Fatigue can outlast the pain. Even a short general anesthetic leaves many people needing an afternoon rest for a week or more. That is the body allocating energy to wound healing, and it is not a sign that anything has gone wrong.

Which sensations are normal, even when they feel wrong?

The most frequent worry surgeons hear about in the first month is a lump. A firm ridge or small mound directly under an incision is typically the healing scar plus a little fluid. A broader firmness across the area where the hernia used to be is often the mesh and the inflammatory tissue forming around it. Neither is soft, neither disappears when lying down, and both slowly soften over weeks.

Numbness is common too. Small skin nerves are cut or stretched at any incision, and a patch of altered sensation around the scars or in the upper thigh can persist for months. The NHS lists numbness or tingling as a recognized after-effect of hernia repair, and in most people it fades gradually.

Other sensations that surprise people but are usually expected:

• A pulling or twanging feeling in the groin when standing after sitting, as the mesh and tissue take load.
• Yellowish bruising that changes color over one to two weeks before disappearing.
• Clear or slightly pink moisture on a dressing in the first two or three days.
• Swelling of the scrotum or labia after groin repair, from fluid tracking down.
• A sense of pressure when passing urine in the first day or two.

What ties these together is direction of travel. Normal after-effects are at their worst in the first few days and then recede, however slowly. They do not come with fever, they do not produce cloudy or foul fluid, and they do not make a person feel progressively more unwell. When a symptom is heading the wrong way, when redness is spreading rather than fading or a lump is growing rather than softening, that is the moment the picture changes from healing to something that needs a clinician’s eyes.

Hernia surgery infection signs: how a wound infection usually announces itself

A surgical site infection is bacterial growth in or under an incision. The CDC describes three depths: superficial infections in the skin, deeper infections in the muscle and tissue beneath, and infections involving an organ or space opened during surgery, such as the pocket where mesh sits. Most appear within the first 30 days of an operation, according to the CDC’s definition.

Superficial infection is the most common and the easiest to spot. The skin around one incision becomes red, and crucially the redness spreads outward day by day rather than staying as a thin pink rim along the wound edge. The area feels warm compared with skin an inch away, and touching it hurts more than it did the day before. Drainage changes character: from clear or pink to thick, cloudy, yellow or green, sometimes with an odor. The wound edges may pull apart.

Deeper infection is subtler. The skin may look nearly normal while the person feels increasingly unwell: fever, chills, a racing heart, loss of appetite, or a deep ache that worsens when the pain should be settling. The area can feel boggy or tense rather than simply firm.

Timing gives a useful clue. Pain that peaks on day two and eases is the operation. Pain that improves and then returns around day four to seven, particularly with fever, is a pattern surgeons take seriously.

None of this is a self-diagnosis checklist. Redness alone has innocent causes, including reaction to adhesive dressings. The point is that spreading warmth, worsening pain and changed drainage are the hernia surgery infection signs that justify a same-day call, because early treatment of a superficial infection is a very different proposition from treatment of one that has reached the mesh.

Seroma after hernia repair: fluid lump or infection?

A seroma is a pocket of clear, straw-colored fluid that collects in the space where the hernia sac used to be. When bowel or fat is pushed back inside and the empty cavity is covered with mesh, the body fills the void with tissue fluid. This is extremely common after repair of abdominal wall hernias and also happens after groin repairs, particularly large ones.

A seroma usually appears within the first week or two. It feels like a smooth, slightly squishy swelling in exactly the place the hernia was, which is why so many people fear the hernia has come straight back. Unlike a hernia, a seroma does not change size with coughing or standing, and it cannot be pushed back in. The skin over it is normal in color and temperature. Most seromas are reabsorbed by the body over several weeks to a few months without any treatment.

The distinction from infection rests on the surrounding picture:

• Seroma: soft to firm swelling, skin normal, no fever, pain mild or absent, size stable or slowly shrinking.
• Infected collection: swelling with red or warm skin over it, increasing tenderness, fever or feeling unwell, sometimes fluid leaking through the incision.

Surgeons are generally reluctant to drain an uncomplicated seroma with a needle, because passing a needle through the skin into the space around mesh risks introducing bacteria into a sterile pocket. Draining is considered when the seroma is large, painful, or the team suspects it has become infected.

The practical advice is to watch rather than worry, but to watch actively. A swelling that is present at week two and smaller at week six is following the expected script. One that is growing, reddening or hurting more is not, and that change belongs in front of the surgical team, not on a search engine.

Late hernia surgery infection signs: hernia mesh infection symptoms months or years on

Mesh is a foreign material, and bacteria that reach it can hide in a thin film on its surface where antibiotics struggle to penetrate. Most mesh infections declare themselves in the first weeks. A minority are late, occasionally very late, and this is the scenario behind some of the more alarming case reports online, where infection surfaces years after an otherwise uneventful repair.

Late mesh infection tends to be a slow burn rather than a sudden fever. The typical story is a deep, persistent ache at the repair site that was not there before, sometimes with a tender swelling that comes and goes. The skin may develop a small opening that weeps fluid intermittently, called a sinus, which scabs over and reopens. Low-grade fevers, night sweats, or simply feeling run down for weeks are described. Because these features are vague, people often attribute them to a strain or to aging, and the diagnosis is delayed.

The NHS lists infection of the mesh as a recognized, uncommon risk of hernia repair. Diagnosis usually involves examination, blood tests looking for markers of inflammation, and imaging such as ultrasound or CT to look for a fluid collection around the mesh. Treatment decisions vary widely. Some infections respond to antibiotics and drainage; a chronically infected mesh may need partial or complete removal, which is a larger operation and one the surgical team weighs carefully against the risk of the hernia returning.

Two points are worth holding onto. First, late mesh infection is uncommon; the vast majority of people with mesh never think about it again. Second, a new, unexplained, persistent symptom at the site of an old repair, however many years ago, is a legitimate reason to see a doctor and to mention the surgery. It is one of the few hernia surgery infection signs that can appear long after the calendar has moved on.

Hernia recurrence after surgery: what a returning bulge actually feels like

Recurrence means the hernia has reappeared, either because the mesh has shifted or pulled away from the tissue at one edge, or because a new weakness has opened alongside it. The NHS lists recurrence among the recognized risks of inguinal hernia repair and describes it as affecting a small proportion of people. Risk rises with smoking, obesity, chronic cough, heavy lifting before the repair has matured, wound infection, and conditions that weaken connective tissue.

A true recurrence behaves like the original hernia did. A bulge appears at or near the old site. It is usually soft, it enlarges when standing, coughing or straining, and it shrinks or disappears when lying flat. Pressing on it gently may push it back inside, sometimes with a gurgle if bowel is involved. Discomfort is often a dragging or aching sensation at the end of the day rather than sharp pain.

This is precisely how a recurrence differs from the lumps of normal healing. A seroma does not change with posture. Scar firmness does not disappear when lying down. Mesh does not gurgle. When a swelling behaves dynamically, coming and going with pressure, that is the pattern that points toward a defect in the repair rather than fluid or scar.

Timing varies. Early recurrence in the first months usually reflects a technical issue or an infection that prevented the mesh from integrating. Later recurrence, years on, more often reflects gradual tissue weakening around a repair that was sound.

A recurrence is not an emergency in itself, but it should be assessed. The one urgent version is a bulge that becomes hard, exquisitely tender and will not go back in, especially with vomiting. That combination suggests trapped bowel and needs emergency care the same hour, not the same week.

Normal, concerning or urgent: a side-by-side guide

Symptoms rarely arrive labelled. The same word, swelling, can describe a harmless seroma or a strangulated recurrence. The table below sorts common experiences by what they usually mean and how quickly they deserve attention. It is a guide to when to call, not a substitute for the surgical team’s assessment.

What you notice	Usually means	What to do
Shoulder-tip ache, day 1–2	Leftover carbon dioxide gas	Walk, wait; mention at follow-up if it lingers
Bruising spreading to thigh or scrotum	Settled blood from the operative area	Expected; call if the area becomes tense and very painful
Firm ridge under an incision, softening over weeks	Healing scar and mesh integration	Routine follow-up
Soft swelling at hernia site, skin normal, no fever	Probable seroma	Report at follow-up; call sooner if growing or reddening
Pain improving, then worsening after day 3–4	Possible infection or collection	Call the surgical team the same day
Redness spreading outward, warmth, cloudy drainage	Likely wound infection	Same-day call
Fever with chills, feeling increasingly unwell	Possible deeper infection	Same-day call; urgent care if unable to reach the team
Bulge that changes with coughing or standing	Possible recurrence	Arrange review within days
Hard, very tender bulge that will not go in, with vomiting	Possible trapped bowel	Emergency department now
Calf pain and swelling, or breathlessness	Possible blood clot	Emergency assessment now

Two threads run through the table. Direction matters more than intensity: a symptom that is receding is almost always benign, one that is advancing rarely is. And systemic signs, fever, vomiting, breathlessness, move any local symptom up a level. When in doubt, surgical teams would rather field a phone call about a bruise than see a person a week late with an infected mesh.

What are the possible long-term side effects of inguinal hernia surgery?

Most people finish healing and stop thinking about the repair. A minority carry something forward, and the most discussed long-term effect is chronic groin pain, meaning pain that persists beyond about three months, when the tissues should have settled. The NHS lists long-term pain as a recognized risk of inguinal hernia repair, and Mayo Clinic notes that persistent discomfort can follow either open or keyhole approaches.

The mechanisms differ. Some pain is neuropathic, arising from a nerve that was stretched, trapped in scar, or caught by a fixation device. It tends to be burning or electric, is provoked by particular movements, and may come with a patch of numbness or hypersensitivity. Other pain is nociceptive, a deep ache from the mesh and scar under load, worse with prolonged standing or heavy work. Keyhole approaches, by placing mesh behind the muscle and away from the main groin nerves, are associated with somewhat lower rates of chronic pain than open repair in the NHS summary, though neither approach eliminates it.

Other long-term possibilities the NHS and Mayo Clinic describe include persistent numbness in the groin or upper thigh, a sensation of stiffness or awareness of the mesh, and, rarely, injury to the blood supply of the testicle leading to shrinkage. Difficulty with ejaculation or pain during intercourse is reported by a small number of men and should be raised rather than tolerated in silence.

Management of chronic pain after hernia repair is layered. It typically begins with time and reassurance, since many cases settle within the first year, and moves through physiotherapy, nerve-targeted injections, and medicines used for nerve pain, before surgical options such as neurectomy or mesh removal are considered for the few who need them. Each step is a decision for the treating team, informed by examination and sometimes imaging, and the trade-offs of further surgery are real.

Robotic hernia surgery recovery time: work, lifting, driving and alcohol

Recovery has two clocks. The first is comfort, which for most people after a keyhole repair means being off strong pain relief within days and back to desk work within about one to two weeks, per NHS guidance. The second is tissue strength. Mesh reaches meaningful integration over roughly six weeks, and this is why the same guidance suggests avoiding heavy lifting and strenuous sport until around that point, even when the incisions feel fine.

Lifting is where most people negotiate with themselves. A useful rule many teams use is that anything requiring a held breath and a braced abdomen is too heavy in the early weeks. Groceries in small bags, yes; a suitcase into a car trunk, not yet. Gradual return, guided by the team’s specific advice, protects the repair while it is still relying on stitches or tacks rather than scar.

Driving depends on being able to perform an emergency stop without hesitation and without being impaired by pain medicine. The NHS suggests many people are ready within one to two weeks after keyhole repair, but insurers and individual circumstances vary, so it is worth checking.

Alcohol comes up often. There is no fixed medical rule, but there are three reasons teams usually suggest holding off in the early days. Alcohol adds to the sedative effect of opioid pain relief and the two together slow breathing. It dehydrates and worsens constipation, which is already a problem after surgery. And alcohol impairs the immune response and wound healing, particularly in heavier amounts. When it is reasonable to resume is a conversation with the prescribing clinician, especially while any pain medicine is still being taken.

Sexual activity, showering and travel are the other frequent questions. Showering is usually fine once dressings allow; the team will say when. Intimacy is generally guided by comfort. Long journeys in the first weeks raise the risk of clots, so movement breaks and hydration matter.

What people often get wrong about infection and recurrence

The first myth is that any lump means the hernia is back. In the early months a lump is far more likely to be a seroma, scar or the mesh itself. The behavior of the lump, whether it changes with posture and coughing, tells more than its presence.

The second is that redness equals infection. A thin pink rim along the incision is normal inflammatory healing. Adhesive dressings cause rectangular red patches with sharp edges that match the dressing exactly. Infection produces redness that spreads outward with blurred margins and comes with warmth, tenderness and often changed drainage.

Third, people assume mesh complications are common because they are widely written about. The NHS and Mayo Clinic describe mesh infection and rejection-type reactions as uncommon, and case reports of late infection years after surgery are newsworthy precisely because they are unusual. Awareness is sensible; expectation is not.

Fourth, the belief that once pain has gone, the repair is fully strong. Comfort returns well before tissue strength does, which is why lifting restrictions extend beyond the point when a person feels fine.

Fifth, that a fever a week after surgery is probably a cold. It may be. But a fever in the first month after an operation is treated as a surgical question until proven otherwise, because the CDC defines this window as the period when most surgical site infections appear.

Sixth, that calling the surgical team about a possible false alarm is a nuisance. Surgeons uniformly prefer early calls. A superficial infection assessed on day five is a short course of treatment; the same infection reaching the mesh is a very different problem.

Finally, the idea that recurrence reflects something the patient did wrong. Coughing, a sneeze or an awkward lift rarely undoes a sound repair. Recurrence is multifactorial, involving tissue quality, technique, infection and time, and it is a reason for reassessment rather than self-blame.

Questions to ask your care team before you leave and at follow-up

The most useful questions are specific to the operation actually performed, because advice for a small groin repair and a large abdominal wall reconstruction differs. Before discharge, it is reasonable to ask:

• Exactly which hernia was repaired, what type of mesh was used, and how it was fixed, since this affects what a normal lump feels like.
• Whether a seroma is expected at this site and how large or how long is acceptable before the team wants to know.
• What the dressing plan is: when it can be removed, whether the incisions are glued or stitched, and when showering is fine.
• Which number to call for concerns in and out of hours, and what counts as a same-day call versus an emergency department visit.
• How long to avoid lifting, driving and sport, and what a gradual return should look like week by week.
• How long any pain medicine is expected to be needed and what the plan is for bowels while taking it.

At the follow-up appointment, usually a few weeks after surgery, different questions become relevant. Is the swelling present now what the team expected? Is any numbness likely to persist? What symptoms in the months ahead would justify an earlier review, particularly regarding pain that does not settle or a swelling that comes and goes?

Longer term, it is worth asking whether there is anything about this repair the person should mention to future doctors, for instance the position of the mesh if abdominal imaging or another operation is ever needed, and whether a wallet card or note in the medical record is advisable.

Writing questions down beforehand helps. Postoperative appointments are short, and the questions that matter most, about pain trajectory and what recurrence would feel like in this particular spot, are the ones easiest to forget in the room.

When to call your doctor

Some symptoms warrant a same-day call to the surgical team. Others need an emergency department without waiting for a call back. Keeping the two lists separate makes the decision faster when it is needed.

Call the surgical team the same day for: redness that is spreading outward from an incision, or skin that feels hot compared with skin nearby; thick, cloudy, yellow, green or foul-smelling drainage; a wound edge that has opened; pain that improved and is now getting worse, or pain not controlled by the plan you were given; a temperature of 100.4°F (38°C) or higher; a swelling at the repair site that is growing, reddening or becoming more tender; a new bulge that appears with standing or coughing; difficulty passing urine; or persistent nausea that prevents fluids.

Go to an emergency department or call emergency services for: a bulge that is hard, very painful and cannot be pushed back, especially with vomiting or a swollen abdomen, which may mean trapped bowel; severe abdominal pain that is escalating; fever with shaking chills and a racing heart or confusion; heavy bleeding through a dressing; pain, swelling or redness in one calf; or sudden breathlessness or chest pain, which can signal a blood clot travelling to the lung.

The bar for calling should be low. Surgical teams expect to hear about worries in the first weeks, and a description over the phone often settles the matter. When it does not, being seen early is the single most effective way to keep a small problem small. Every decision about what a symptom means and what to do next rests with the treating team, who know the operation, the mesh and the individual in a way no article can.

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take to recover from hernia mesh surgery?

Most people are back to light daily activity within one to two weeks after keyhole hernia repair and to strenuous activity by around six weeks, according to NHS guidance. Open repair with mesh often takes somewhat longer at the comfortable end of that range. Tissue strength lags behind comfort, which is why lifting limits continue after the incisions stop hurting. The surgical team sets the individual timeline.

What are the symptoms of hernia mesh complications?

The main mesh complications are infection, chronic pain and recurrence. Infection shows as spreading redness, warmth, cloudy drainage, fever or a deep ache that worsens instead of easing; late infection may present as a weeping skin opening or persistent ache months later. Chronic pain is burning or aching discomfort beyond three months. Recurrence is a soft bulge that changes with standing or coughing. Any of these should be assessed by the surgical team.

Can I drink alcohol after hernia surgery?

There is no single rule, but surgical teams usually advise avoiding alcohol while taking prescribed pain medicine, because alcohol adds to the sedative effect of opioids and slows breathing. Alcohol also dehydrates, worsens postoperative constipation and impairs wound healing. When it is reasonable to resume depends on the medicines still being taken and how healing is going, so the prescribing clinician is the right person to ask.

What are the hernia mesh infection symptoms I should watch for months later?

Late mesh infection tends to be quiet. Watch for a new, persistent deep ache at the old repair site, a tender swelling that comes and goes, a small skin opening that weeps and reheals, low-grade fevers or night sweats, or feeling run down for weeks without another explanation. These are uncommon, but any of them at the site of a previous repair justifies a doctor’s review and a mention of the surgery.

How can I tell hernia recurrence after surgery from normal swelling?

A recurrence behaves like the original hernia: a soft bulge that appears or enlarges when standing, coughing or straining, and shrinks or disappears lying flat. Normal postoperative swelling, scar and seroma stay the same size regardless of posture and cannot be pushed back in. A hard, very tender bulge that will not go in, especially with vomiting, needs emergency care. Any suspected recurrence should be examined by the surgical team.

Is a seroma after hernia repair dangerous?

Usually not. A seroma is a pocket of clear fluid filling the space where the hernia sac was, and most are reabsorbed over weeks to months without treatment. It becomes a concern if it grows steadily, becomes painful, the skin over it reddens or warms, or fever develops, which can indicate infection. Surgeons generally avoid needle drainage of an uncomplicated seroma near mesh to reduce infection risk.

Why does my shoulder hurt after robotic hernia surgery?

Robotic and laparoscopic repairs inflate the abdomen with carbon dioxide to make room to work. Gas left behind irritates the underside of the diaphragm, and the nerve serving the diaphragm shares a pathway with the shoulder, so the brain perceives pain at the shoulder tip. Walking helps the gas disperse and be absorbed. It typically settles within a day or two; if it persists or worsens, mention it to the team.

What is a normal robotic hernia surgery recovery time before driving?

The practical test is being able to perform an emergency stop without hesitation and without being impaired by pain medicine. NHS guidance suggests many people reach that point within one to two weeks after keyhole repair, though it varies with the size of the repair and individual comfort. Insurance policies sometimes specify a minimum period, so it is worth checking. The surgical team can confirm when it is reasonable.

What are the long-term side effects of inguinal hernia surgery?

The most discussed is chronic groin pain lasting beyond three months, which the NHS lists as a recognized risk; keyhole approaches are associated with somewhat lower rates than open repair. Others include persistent numbness in the groin or thigh, awareness of the mesh, recurrence, and rarely testicular problems or discomfort during sexual activity. Many settle within the first year; persistent symptoms should be raised with the treating team.

Should I call the surgeon for redness around my hernia incision?

A thin pink rim along the wound edge is normal healing, and a sharp-edged red rectangle matching a dressing is usually adhesive irritation. Call the same day if redness is spreading outward with blurred margins, the skin feels hot, the area is increasingly tender, drainage becomes cloudy or foul, or fever develops. Surgical teams prefer early calls, because a superficial infection caught early is far simpler to treat than one reaching the mesh.

References

• NHS: Inguinal hernia repair, recovery
• MedlinePlus: Inguinal hernia repair, discharge
• CDC: About surgical site infections
• Cleveland Clinic: Hernia

This article is for general information only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult a qualified doctor about your individual situation.