Laparoscopic Inguinal Hernia Repair in a Developing Nation: Short-term Outcomes in 103 Consecutive Procedures.
BACKGROUND
There are no published data on the outcomes of inguinal hernia repair from the Anglophone Caribbean. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of a series of laparoscopic inguinal hernia repairs from the region.


METHODS
Data was extracted from a prospectively maintained database of consecutive trans abdominal pre-peritoneal (TAPP) repairs done between June 1, 2005 and May 30, 2012. Perioperative data collected included patient demographics, hernia type, operative technique, duration of surgery, intra-operative details, morbidity, analgesia requirements, and duration of hospitalization. A telephone survey was also performed to identify late recurrences and complications. Descriptive statistics were generated using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Ver 12.0.


RESULTS
There were 103 consecutive TAPP procedures in 88 patients at an average age of 35.4 years ± 12.9 (standard deviation; SD) and average body mass index (BMI) of 28.9 Kg/m(2) ± 2.23 (SD). The indications were bilateral (30), recurrent unilateral (24), and primary unilateral (49) inguinal hernias. The mean duration of operation was 68.5 minutes (SD ± 10.4; Range: 55-95; Median 65; Mode 65) minutes for unilateral TAPP and 89 minutes (SD ± 7.61; Range: 80-105; Median 90; Mode 90) for bilateral repairs. Post-operatively, 65/70 patients required ≤1 dose of parenteral opioid analgesia and 74 (84.1%) patients discontinued oral analgesia within 48 hours of operation. Complications were recorded in six (5.8%) cases and a recurrence in one (0.97%) case after a mean follow-up period of 3.2 years (SD ± 1.8; Range: 0.5-7).


CONCLUSIONS
Laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair is a safe and effective operation in this setting.
Department of Surgery, University of the West Indies, Mona, Kingston 7, Jamaica, West Indies.
Shamir O
SO
Cawich
Department of Surgery, Cayman Islands Hospital, Grand Cayman, British West Indies.
Sanjib K
SK
Mohanty
Department of Surgery, University of the West Indies, Mona, Kingston 7, Jamaica, West Indies.
Kimon O
KO
Bonadie
Department of Surgery, University of the West Indies, Mona, Kingston 7, Jamaica, West Indies.
Lindberg K
LK
Simpson
Department of Surgery, University of the West Indies, Mona, Kingston 7, Jamaica, West Indies.
Peter B
PB
Johnson
Department of Surgery, University of the West Indies, Mona, Kingston 7, Jamaica, West Indies.
Sundeep
S
Shah
Department of Surgery, University of the West Indies, Mona, Kingston 7, Jamaica, West Indies.
Eric W
EW
Williams
Hernia; TAPP; laparoscopic; recurrence