Randomized clinical trial comparing lightweight mesh with heavyweight mesh for primary inguinal hernia repair

The aim of the present randomized clinical trial was to compare feeling of a foreign body and the early and late outcomes after inguinal hernia repair with the heavyweight (HW) mesh and lightweight (LW) mesh during a 12-month follow-up at a single specialist center.

One hundred and ten patients were randomized into HW and LW mesh groups, both of which underwent unilateral primary inguinal hernia via the Lichtenstein technique. At each postoperative visit, any complication, recurrence, feeling of a foreign body, quality of life, residual pain, and numbness were recorded.

Complaint of feeling of a foreign body on the repaired side was more frequent in the HW mesh group than in the LW mesh group (P < 0.05). Fewer patients in the LW mesh group reported postoperative numbness around the groin or down the thigh than did those in the HW mesh group (P < 0.05). At 12-month follow-up, however, there was no difference between the LW and HW mesh groups as regards the incidence or severity of pain or discomfort and recurrence rate and nor was there any significant dissimilarity between the two study groups in any dimension of quality of life on the SF-36.

There was no significant difference between our LW mesh and HW mesh groups in terms of chronic pain incidence, recurrence rate, and quality of life following inguinal hernia repair. However, fewer patients in the LW mesh group reported numbness around the groin or down the thigh postsurgery than did those in the HW mesh group and therein may lie in the superiority of LW mesh for inguinal hernia repair. Larger cohort studies with longer follow-up periods are required to elucidate in the future the benefits of the LW mesh.