A Faster and Simpler Operation Method for Laparoscopic Inguinal Hernia Repair in Children

Inguinal hernias (IHs) are common in infants and children. The key step in inguinal hernia repair is high ligation of the hernia sac. The current main treatment methods for IHs are open and laparoscopic surgery. Over the past two decades, laparoscopic herniorrhaphy has increased in popularity. Herein, we introduced a new method to laparoscopically treat IHs. The goal of this study was to investigate the clinical effects and advantages of this new operation technique for IHs, which is called the "hernia sac ligation by single-incision laparoscopic surgery with a double-line band method." We retrospectively reviewed the records of all children who underwent initial laparoscopic herniorrhaphy at our center over a 1-year period. A single surgeon performed all surgeries using the modified single-incision laparoscopic technique. Intraoperative findings and complications, operative times, and postoperative complications were reviewed for all children. All 119 surgeries were successfully completed (58 bilateral and 61 unilateral). In total, 54 out of 58 children had contralateral openings discovered at time of surgery and underwent unplanned bilateral laparoscopic hernia repair. This clinical study included 99 boys patients and 20 girls patients (boy-to-girl ratio was 4.95:1). The age range at the time of surgery was 0.5 to 10 years, and the average age was 2.63 years. No patient had any intraoperative complication. Postoperative complications occurred in 1 boy (0.56%) who had a hernia recurrence that required open repair. The addition of auxiliary operating forceps was required for 8 boys (6.72%). No child had scrotum edema, wound infection, stitch granuloma, or iatrogenic cryptorchidism. Overall, a 93.3% operative success rate was noted with the modified technique. The modified technique is a safe and effective operation method, which can significantly shorten the operation time, reduce recurrence rates, and result in minimal scarring. Additionally, the procedure is expected to be less expensive.