Herniorrafia inguinal com anestesia locorregional - (uso de ropivacaína)

background: the goal of this study is to report the efficiency and safety of inguinal herniorraphy using locoregional anesthesia with ropivacaine, describing the technique, its indications and limitations. methods: inguinal herniorraphy was performed in 50 patients, between january and december, 2005, using locoregional anesthesia with ropivacaine, at the red cross - unicenp universitary hospital, in curitiba, brazil. the herniorraphy tension free technique was used. age, sex and hernia type, using the nyhus hernia classification were analysed. results: it there were no side effects related to the anesthesic drug postoperative complications were mild and had adequate clinical solutions. conclusion: the authors concluded that herniorraphy using locoregional anesthesia, with the use of ropivacaine and sedation, is an adequate procedure, with remarkable benefits for the patients. they also suggest that, with the contribution of new future studies, the brazilian surgical community should consider this technique as a routine in our environment.