Laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair: review of 6 years experience

Since 6 years, the totally extraperitoneal laparoscopic hernia repair has become our procedure of choice to manage inguinal hernia in adult patients, especially for bilateral hernias and recurrences after classical anterior repair. Between March 1993 and March 1999, 976 patients underwent 1259 hernia repairs by an endoscopic total extraperitoneal approach. A large polypropylene prosthesis (15 x 15 cm) is placed and covers all potential defects. Follow-up on patients ranged from 6 to 79 months (mean, 39 months). Per- and postoperative morbidity and complications were acceptable (8.4%) and included conversion to open surgery (0.4%), bleedings (0.3%), urinary retention (4.2%), seromas (2.7%), neuralgias (0.2%), vague persistent groin discomfort (0.4%), orchitis (0.08%) and sigmoido-cutaneous fistula (0.08%). Recurrence rate so far is 0.1%. This retrospective study shows that the totally extraperitoneal repair for inguinal hernia should have a promising future because of low morbidity and low recurrence rate.