title: Consolidated five-year experience with laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  After the introduction of laparoscopic hernia repair to the National Health Service (NHS), we studied the benefits and practicality of carrying out this specialised hernia repair technique in a District General NHS hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients with groin hernia were stratified into groups for day-surgery or inpatient care based on Trust guidelines. Patients underwent laparoscopic trans-abdominal pre-peritoneal (TAPP) inguinal hernia repair by a single consultant surgeon. Patients were followed-up in the clinic. All data were collected prospectively on a structured proforma. Postal questionnaire was sent to 100 randomly selected patients who had surgery more than two years ago and responses were evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 830 hernias were operated upon in 572 patients, aged between 16 and 89 years. Three hundred and twelve patients had the operation as a day-case procedure, and the remaining 260 were treated as inpatients. Incidental hernias were discovered in 19.1% of patients, and were treated simultaneously.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The laparoscopic tension-free TAPP method of hernia repair, as done here, is cost-effective and efficacious. Most patients can be treated as day-cases. A low recurrence rate (0.36%) with low morbidity makes it an attractive method for routine treatment of groin hernias in the NHS.
authors.affiliation: General Surgery, Princess Royal University Hospital, Farnborough, Kent, BR6 8ND, UK. tasneemtarun@hotmail.com
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Singhal
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Balakrishnan
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Grandy-Smith
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: El-Hasani
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000556:Ambulatory Surgical Procedures; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006552:Hernia, Inguinal / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D033162:Incidental Findings; D010535:Laparoscopy / Q000379:methods; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012008:Recurrence; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome