Laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair results: 131 cases

Since its introduction, laparoscopic inguinal hernia has been plagued with multiple technical problems. A series of 131 laparoscopic inguino-femoral hernia repairs is presented. The technique used was an original transabdominal pre-peritoneal approach using a SurgiPro mesh with two technical variations. In the beginning, this procedure was only offered to patients less than 50 years of age. These guidelines were eliminated as the study progressed. For our first 10 cases, our average operating time was 1 hour and 39 minutes. For the last 40 cases, it averaged 63 minutes. All but four patients were discharged the same day. Ninety-six per cent of all patients felt minimal pain or discomfort within 72 hours. Four per cent felt pain or discomfort until the tenth post-operative day. All patients were ambulatory the day of surgery, and 94 per cent of all patients resumed regular activities before the tenth postoperative day. No significant morbidity and no mortality were identified with the exception of five postoperative inguinal seromas, which were successfully aspirated. No recurrence was demonstrated, but this series is clearly insufficient to establish a rate of recurrence. The cost of these procedures appeared to be higher than for a conventional repair; however, it has recently been reduced. The procedures remain difficult, but the rate of recovery for these patients is shown to be significantly improved. The superiority of this procedure over its open counterpart has not yet been proven.