title: Laparoscopic or Lichtenstein repair for recurrent inguinal hernia: one unit's experience.
abstract: Surgical treatment of recurrent inguinal hernia is controversial. This is a prospective study of 50 patients who had laparoscopic total extraperitoneal repair (n = 25) or Lichtenstein repair (n = 25) for recurrent inguinal hernia. The two groups of patients were comparable in age, sex and type of hernia. Post-operatively, a seroma or a wound haematoma developed in 12 patients after Lichtenstein repair and in 4 patients after laparoscopic repair (p < 0.05). On average, analgesia was taken for 6.4 days after Lichtenstein repair compared with 3.4 days after laparoscopic repair (p < 0.05). In our unit, laparoscopic repair was associated with fewer complications and a significantly shorter duration of post-operative analgesia than Lichtenstein repair for recurrent inguinal hernia.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Western General Hospital NHS Trust, Edinburgh, U.K.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Nixon
authors.forename: I M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: MacIntyre
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D006406:Hematoma / Q000209:etiology; D006552:Hernia, Inguinal / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D010535:Laparoscopy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012008:Recurrence; D016896:Treatment Outcome