LAPAROSCOPIC SURGICAL REPAIR OF HERNIA - A TENSION-FREE APPROACH

From January 1992 to February 1993 a total of 361 inguinal hernia repa irs were performed in our unit. We routinely performed the Shouldice r epair. In 60 patients, 46 men and 14 women, 19-82 years old, we closed the inguinal defect with a patch, performing a ''tension-free'' repai r by a laparoscopic technique. In 26 patients we found a left-sided he rnia, in 21 patients a right-sided, and in 13 bilateral hernias. We fo und 29 direct hernias, 26 indirect hernias and 18 combined hernias. Th ere were no intraoperative complications. Postoperatively, 1 patient s uffered from epididymitis, and 5 patients reported disturbed sensibili ty of the skin at the medial proximal thigh for some weeks. One patien t had an inguinal seroma postoperatively. In this patient we had not r emoved the hernia sac. There was no recurrence. Long time results are not available until now.