Comparison of Balloon Trocar versus Telescopic Dissection Method for TEP Inguinal Hernia Repair

To compare the outcomes between two methods of dissection (balloon trocar vs. telescopic dissection) used in total extra-peritoneal (TEP) inguinal hernia repair.

Comparative study.

Department of General Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Sakarya University, conducted between January 2018 and January 2020.

The study included patients who underwent elective TEP inguinal hernia repair. Preoperative and early postoperative results were compared, after the patients had been divided into a balloon trocar group (Group 1) and telescopic dissection group (Group 2). The technique performed depended on equipment availability. Permission was obtained from the Institutional Review Board. The study data are presented as descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation, median, first quartile, third quartile, frequency and percentage); p-value <0.05 was considered significant.

A total of 189 patients were included; 95 patients in Group 1 and 94 patients in Group 2. No significant differences in age, gender, body mass index, body weight, ASA performance status, operating time, duration of hospitalisation or postoperative bleeding values were observed between the groups (p >0.05). European Hernia Society Quality of Life pain score values ​​ were higher in Group 2 than Group 1 (p = 0.016).

Telescopic dissection was cheaper than balloon dissection. The bleeding values and operating time were similar between the two methods, but telescopic dissection caused more postoperative pain. Key Words: Inguinal hernia, Telescopic dissection, Balloon dissection, Total extra-peritoneal (TEP) surgery.