title: Inguinal hernia: the quest for the best repair.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Inguinal hernia repair may be the most common procedure in general surgery. Many repairs have been described but none appears completely satisfactory. A brief look at the popular methods of repair from the traditional tissue approximation to the current mesh-based techniques is presented.
  
  
  METHODS
  The PubMed database was searched for all English language literature. Further references were obtained through cross-referencing the bibliography cited in each work and using books from the authors' collection.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The history of inguinal hernia is a rich one, from the traditional tissue approximation techniques to the current mesh-based repairs which are now performed as open or laparoscopic procedures. Recurrent rates have reduced but are still a problem. Perhaps the perfect repair remains elusive because the problem may also be with patients' collagen not just the surgical procedure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Jos University Teaching Hospital, Jos Plateau State, Nigeria. bashomeiza@gmail.com
authors.forename: B O
authors.initials: BO
authors.lastname: Ismaila
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Misauno
authors.forename: E O
authors.initials: EO
authors.lastname: Ojo
mesh_terms: D006552:Hernia, Inguinal / Q000266:history / Q000601:surgery*; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D010535:Laparoscopy / Q000379:methods; D013526:Surgical Mesh; D013514:Surgical Procedures, Operative / Q000379:methods*; D016896:Treatment Outcome