[Inguinal hernia: mesh or no mesh in open repair?]

The operative repair of inguinal hernias is the most common surgical procedure in general surgery. This review gives a survey of the current data on the "mesh or no mesh" question in open inguinal hernia surgery. The Cochrane Database Systematic Review of 2002 has the highest level of evidence. Five randomised controlled trials were published after the Cochrane analysis and in a retrospective study, 1,513,008 patients were summarised accordingly. According to these data, the incidence of postoperative complications (haematoma, seroma, wound infection and serious complications like bowel/vessel injury and bleeding) does not depend on the operative technique used. The implantation of meshes significantly decreases the overall recurrence rate, the occurrence of chronic pain and the time of return to normal activity, as compared to non-mesh techniques. The published data shows significant advantages for mesh techniques.