[Inguinal and femoral hernia surgery : Open mesh procedure. Video article]

There are several techniques for repair of symptomatic inguinal and femoral hernias. There is an increased acceptance and tendency favoring minimally invasive procedures, such as plug or transinguinal preperitoneal mesh prosthesis (TIPP) and endoscopic procedures, such as totally extraperitoneal (TEP) and transabdominal preperitoneal (TAPP) repair. In the present review the classical techniques of Irving L. Lichtenstein (1986) and Jean Rives (1965), two indispensable procedures, are presented and the results from the literature are discussed. The videos show the repair of three interesting and complex cases. The surgical techniques are demonstrated in detail with the help of a video of the operation and which is available online. It is essential that each hernia surgeon should have proficiency in performing both procedures in order to be able to counsel patients and tailor the procedure according to the clinical findings.