Laparoscopic Inguinal Hernia Repair: A Review of 1,000 Cases

Purpose: W e review ed our data com piled prospectively for evaluation of post-operative com plications and recurrence of laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair.Methods: Am ong the 1000 patients (age, ≥20 years old) w ho w ere undergone laparoscopic inguinal hernia surgery from January 2007 to July 2011, the age, sex, location, hernia type, operation tim e, postoperative m orbidity, and conversion of 992 patients w ere analyzed.Results: Am ong 992 patients, 919 (92.6% ) w ere m ale and the m ean age was 54.2 years (range, 20~90).Operation tim es (m inutes) for unilateral and bilateral hernia w ere 40.0 and 53.4,respectively.M ean operation tim e (m inutes) show ed a decrease over tim e, as that for the first half of all cases was 43.5 and that for the second half was 39.7 (p＜0.001).Seven cases of conversion (post-radical prostatectom y hernia= 7) were recorded to TAPP (n=3) or IPOM (n=4) from TEP. Eleven cases of postoperative catheterization (1.1% ), five cases of port site serom a (0.5% ), one case of m esh rem oval due to infection, 24 cases of serom a/hem atom a (2.4% ), 26 cases of neuralgia (2.6% ), and four cases of bleeding w ith a drop in hemoglobin of more than 3 mg% (0.4% ) were also recorded.There w ere three cases of recurrence (0.35% ) at the m edian follow-up of 46 m onths (range, 20 to 70 m onths).Conclusion: Laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair can be perform ed safely, w ith low rates of com plication and recurrence.This technique achieves good results com bined with the benefits of m inim ally invasive surgery.W e should be cautious in order to avoid postoperative bleeding, especially in cases of TEP.