Laparoscopic versus open inguinal hernia repair

Inguinal hernias are common, with a lifetime risk of 27% in men and 3% in women. Inguinal hernia repair is one of the most common operations in general surgery. Despite more than 200 years of experience, the optimal surgical approach to inguinal hernia remains controversial. Surgeons and patients face many decisions when it comes to inguinal hernias: repair or no repair, mesh or no mesh, what kind of mesh, open or laparoscopic, extraperitoneal or transabdominal, and so forth. Inguinal hernia repairs have morbidity and recurrence rates that are not inconsequential. The search for the gold standard of repair continues.