[European practice guidelines for the treatment of inguinal hernia: a summary]

The European best practice guidelines on the treatment of inguinal hernia were published in 2009. Publications on this subject in international journals were updated in 2012. In patients with asymptomatic inguinal hernia or with minimal symptoms, conservative treatment is safe, but they do need to be informed that the risk for undergoing surgery increases by nearly 10% a year. Conservative treatment is less useful in younger patients. All adult men with symptomatic inguinal hernia need to undergo surgery. They should be treated with a technique in which a synthetic prosthesis (mesh) is used. The Lichtenstein technique is advised for the open treatment of inguinal hernia, since this is the most thoroughly evaluated technique. For endoscopic treatment, the European best practice guidelines advise the total extra-peritoneal technique. Nowadays the focus in complications is on the prevention of postoperative chronic pain.