**8. Watchful waiting vs. intervention in hernial disease**

The complication of hernia surgery is low; but it could have a significant impact on the patient life, should it happen. Thus, many patients with asymptomatic hernias prefer to delay surgical intervention until needed. As the natural history of an untreated hernia is generally unknown, many practitioners recommend an elective surgery to treat the hernia. Fitzgibbons et al. [79] followed 720 men, half of which had a surgical intervention and half underwent watchful waiting and were followed up to 4.5 years. The authors concluded that watchful waiting was a suitable option to manage a minimally symptomatic inguinal hernia as the overall risk of complication is low [80].
