Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 30, 2026
Application of a New Mesh Fixation Method in Laparoscopic Incisional Hernia Repair
Published on: December 23, 2022
Randomized Multicenter Trial Comparing Glue Fixation, Self-gripping Mesh, and Suture Fixation of Mesh in Lichtenstein
Kirsi Rönkä1, Jaana Vironen, Jyrki Kössi
1*Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland †Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland ‡Päijät-Häme Central Hospital, Lahti, Finland §North-Karelia Central Hospital, Joensuu, Finland ¶Mikkeli Central Hospital, Mikkeli, Finland ||Savonlinna Central Hospital, Savonlinna, Finland.
Objective:
Three different mesh fixation techniques were compared to find out how to perform a safe and cost-effective open inguinal hernioplasty in day-case setting with the best outcomes with regard to chronic pain.
Summary Background Data:
Mesh fixation method may influence on the incidence of chronic pain after Lichtenstein hernioplasty.
Methods:
Lichtenstein hernioplasty was performed under local anesthesia in 625 patients as day-case surgery in 8 Finnish hospitals. The patients were randomized to receive either a cyanoacrylate glue (Histoacryl, n = 216), self-gripping mesh (Parietex ProGrip, n = 202), or conventional nonabsorbable sutures (Prolene 2-0, n = 207) for mesh fixation. The incidence of wound complications, pain, recurrences, and patients discomfort was recorded on days 1, 7, 30, and 1 year after surgery. The primary endpoint was the sensation of pain measured by pain scores and the need of analgesics after 1 year of surgery.
Results:
The type and size of inguinal hernias were similar in the 3 study groups. The duration of operation was 34 ± 13, 32 ± 9, and 38 ± 9 minutes in the glue, self-gripping, and suture groups, respectively (P < 0.001). There were no significant differences postoperatively in pain response or need for analgesics between the study groups. Two superficial infections (0.3%), 31 wound seromas (5.0%), and 4 recurrent hernias (0.6%) were recorded during a 1-year follow-up. Some 25 patients (4.2%) needed occasionally analgesics for chronic groin pain. A feeling of a foreign object and quality of life were similar in all study groups.
Conclusions:
This randomized trial failed to prove that mesh fixation without sutures causes less inguinodynia than suture fixation in Lichtenstein hernioplasty. Mesh fixation without sutures is feasible without compromising postoperative outcome.
