Follow-up trends after emergency department discharge for acutely symptomatic hernias: A southwestern surgical congress multi-center trial.

•43% of patients in the ED with an acutely symptomatic hernia received clinic follow-up.•The uninsured had a significantly lower rate of clinic follow-up and a higher rate of emergent surgery.•The strongest predictors of receiving surgery were clinic visit, caucasian race, incarceration, and inguinal hernia type.•20% of patients returned to the ED after initial discharge and those with private insurance had the lowest rate of return.•After stratifying by insurance status, disparities in outcomes in race and gender persisted.