SURGERY OF INGUINAL-HERNIAS - THE HISTORI CAL EVOLUTION

The last decades have witnessed a great number of ''novelties'' publis hed for inguinal hernia surgery. However, these are generally modifica tions of well-known operative procedures. The sole genuinely new metho d is laparoscopy for which, however, no long-term results are availabl e. An analysis of original articles shows that all surgical techniques for repair of the hernial orifice can be traced back to two simple re pair principles: 1) reinforcement of the anterior wall of the inguinal canal and tightening of the external inguinal ring [Stromayr 1559, Pu rmann 1692, Czerny 1877]. 2) reinforcement of the posterior wall of th e inguinal canal and tightening the internal inguinal ring a) external ly [Lucas-Championniere 1881, Bassini 1889, Brenner 1898, Lotheissen 1 898, McVay 1942, Shouldice 1945, Lichtenstein 1987, Stoppa 1989] or b) via an intra-abdominal approach (by laparotomy [Tait 1891] or laparos copically [Ger 1990, Velez und Klein 1900]).