Prospective randomised controlled trial of laparoscopic versus open inguinal hernia mesh repair: five year follow up

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Abstract
Laparoscopy enables hernial orifices to be observed and tension-free mesh repair to be carried out effectively. In the first randomised controlled trial on hernia repair, which compared laparoscopic transabdominal pre-peritoneal (TAPP) mesh with open darn repairs, laparoscopic repair was less painful and enabled patients to return to work and normal activity more quickly.1 Since then, several randomised controlled studies and systematic reviews have largely confirmed these results. 2 3 More recently in the United Kingdom, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence reviewed the available early results and published its guidance on the use of laparoscopic surgery for inguinal hernias.4 We present results of a randomised controlled trial of inguinal hernia repair with over five years' follow up, comparing laparoscopic TAPP mesh repair with Lichtenstein open mesh repair. The main long term objective of this study was to compare the complication rates of these procedures. We conducted the trial …