As you enter the stately tree-lined drive to Shouldice Hospital, you will likely pass by groups of individuals ambling along in their housecoats. Chances are that these patients had their hernias repaired the previous day.

We have repaired more than 300,000 hernias with a greater than 99% success rate. Our surgical techniques have been widely acclaimed, however, it is the total Shouldice environment that allows us to deliver truly holistic care to our patients from around the world

It is accepted that early ambulation speeds up recovery. As a Shouldice patient, you will actually walk out of the operating room. Your post-operative recovery has begun. By the following morning you will be participating in a gentle exercise program along with other patients. Steadily, you will gain confidence in your hernia repair. For your enjoyment you will find a billiard room, shuffleboard table, TV lounge, a common area to play cards, and a beautiful solarium for lounging and reading. Outside there are 20 acres of landscaped grounds to stroll about, including a putting green.

Most importantly, you will find other patients eager to compare notes, discuss any concerns and ultimately alleviate any anxieties. In fact, many years ago a group of patients so thoroughly enjoyed their stay, that they approached Dr. Shouldice and asked if he would sponsor an annual reunion. He agreed, providing that all those who came to the dinner used the occasion for a medical check-up. Since 1947, an annual reunion has been held at the Royal York Hotel where a group of doctors examine as many as 1,400 former patients before they all enjoy a banquet and a floor show.

When Shouldice Hospital started, the average hospital stay for hernia surgery was three weeks in General Hospitals. Today, many institutions push "same day surgery" for a variety of reasons. We firmly believe that this is not in the best interests of patients.

We have a very definite post-op rehabilitation program designed along with our surgical techniques to enable you to resume normal activities with minimal interruption and discomfort. Our objective is not only to attain a successful repair for your hernia, but also for you to have as little discomfort as possible so you may return to your normal lifestyle quickly. Our patients frequently return to work in a few days-the average total time off work is eight days.

The one thing common to all hernias is that they do not go away, they only get bigger with more discomfort. It is far better to repair your hernia when you are in good health than to wait until a later date when circumstances may complicate what otherwise, in expert hands is a relatively simple procedure.

The muscles of the groin portion of the abdominal wall are arranged in three distinct layers and we repair the defect, each layer in turn, by overlapping its margins rather like the way the edges of your coat are overlapped when you button it up. The end result is to reinforce the muscular wall of the abdomen. There is no use of foreign bodies such as synthetic screens or meshes, except in extremely rare cases where there has been destruction of the tissue usually due to previous surgery.

Detailed technical descriptions are available for physicians and surgeons and we will gladly send reprints of articles in medical journals to any interested doctor.

Although we have an anesthesiologist on staff, the vast majority of our hernia repairs are done with a sedative (sleeping pill), analgesic (pain relief pill) and local anaesthesia. If necessary, additional medication is administered.

While it is true that men get hernias more often than women, there's certainly no stereotype for the Shouldice patient. We have operated on men and women of all ages. The youngest patient to date was a child of 4 months, while the oldest was a man of 100 years.

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