An inguinal hernia repair can be carried out as either open surgery or laparoscopic (keyhole) surgery.
The hospital will send you instructions about when you need to stop eating and drinking before the operation.
The operation usually takes about 30 to 45 minutes to complete and you'll usually be able to go home on the same day.
Some people stay in hospital overnight if they have other medical problems or live on their own.
Open surgery
Open inguinal hernia repair is often carried out under local anaesthetic or a regional anaesthetic injected into the spine.
This means you'll be awake during the procedure, but the area being operated on will be numbed so you will not experience any pain.
Sometimes a general anaesthetic is used. This means you'll be asleep during the procedure and will not feel any pain.
Once the anaesthetic has taken effect, the surgeon makes a single cut (incision) over the hernia. This incision is usually about 6 to 8cm long.
The surgeon then places the lump of fatty tissue or loop of bowel back into your abdomen (tummy).
A mesh is placed in the abdominal wall, at the weak spot where the hernia came through, to strengthen it.
When the repair is complete, your skin will be sealed with stitches. These usually dissolve on their own within a few days of the operation.
If the hernia has become strangulated and part of the bowel is damaged, the affected segment may need to be removed and the 2 ends of healthy bowel rejoined.
This is a bigger operation and you may need to stay in hospital longer.