title: Long-term results of giant prosthetic reinforcement of the visceral sac for complex recurrent inguinal hernia.
abstract: The results of recurrent inguinal hernia repair in a prospective cohort study were evaluated. From May 1986 to December 1990 75 patients with 150 hernias (24 primary, 126 recurrent) were operated using a technique based on Stoppa's preperitoneal mesh repair (giant prosthetic reinforcement of the visceral sac; GPRVS). All patients were at high risk for recurrence: they all had bilateral hernias, mostly bilateral recurrent and often repeatedly recurrent. All patients had a physical examination 1 week, 6 weeks and 1 year after operation. Sixty patients (94 per cent of surviving patients) had a physical examination after a mean follow-up of 5.7 (range 4-9) years. There were no major complications. There was one deep infection that healed without removing the mesh. One of the 75 patients (1 per cent) had a recurrence 2 months after the operation, due to a technical failure. Because of the excellent results, the ease of the procedure and the low complication rate, GPRVS is the authors' operation of choice for any recurrent inguinal hernia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University Hospital Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: G L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Beets
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: van Geldere
authors.forename: C G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Baeten
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Go
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006552:Hernia, Inguinal / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012008:Recurrence; D013526:Surgical Mesh; D016896:Treatment Outcome