Transrectus Extraperitoneal Versus Minimally Invasive Inguinal Hernia Repair: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Recent guidelines have recommended minimally invasive surgery (MIS) for unilateral inguinal hernia due to reduced chronic pain. The most performed approaches consist of posterior mesh placement by the transabdominal preperitoneal (TAPP) and totally extraperitoneal (TEP) techniques. However, it remains debatable whether the advantage of those techniques stems from the MIS approach or posterior mesh placement or both. As the transrectus preperitoneal (TREPP) technique is an open option for posterior mesh placement, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis comparing TREPP and MIS techniques for groin hernia repair. Cochrane, Embase, Scopus, Scielo, and PubMed were systematically searched for studies comparing TREPP and MIS techniques for groin hernia repair. Outcomes assessed were recurrence, cumulative surgical site occurrences (SSO), surgical site infection (SSI), and postoperative pain. Twenty-nine studies were screened, and eight were thoroughly reviewed. Three studies were included, of which two compared TREPP with the TEP technique, and one compared TREPP with both TEP and TAPP techniques. We found lower SSI rates for the MIS approaches (0.61% versus 0.33%; risk ratios (RRs) 3.96; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.04-15.16; P = .04). We did not find statistically significant differences regarding recurrence (2.42% versus 2.51%; RR 1.01; P = .98), postoperative pain (4.2% versus 6.4%; RR 0.61; P = .4), and SSO (4.2% versus 4.0%; RR 0.6; P = .43) between TREPP and MIS techniques. Our systematic review and meta-analysis found a lower SSI for the MIS repair but did not find differences regarding recurrence, SSO, and postoperative pain. More studies are required to provide a more accurate conclusion about this topic.