LAPAROSCOPIC HERNIA REPAIR

Seventy-nine patients (106 repairs) with inguinal hernias underwent la paroscopic transabdominal preperitoneal hernia repair. The patients in cluded 13 males and 6 females, ranging in age from 19 to 86 years. Twe nty-five percent had undergone previous abdominal surgery, and 19% had recurrent hernias. Preoperative diagnosis was 40 right inguinal herni as (RIH), 33 left inguinal hernias (LIH), and 6 bilateral hernias. Int raoperatively, 30 RM, 22 LM (1 patient also had a left incisional hern ia), 26 bilateral hernias, and 2 femoral hernias were diagnosed and re paired. Twenty patients (25%) had contralateral hernias diagnosed intr aoperatively. Average operating time for unilateral repairs was 76 min utes and for bilateral repairs was 110 minutes. Forty-three percent of patients underwent day-care surgery, and 35% were discharged on the f irst postoperative day. Postoperative complications included 6 cases o f transient neuralgias (7%), 3 cord/scrotal hematomas (4%), 1 trocar s ite hematoma (1%), and 1 case of chronic pain (1%). Follow-up ranged f rom 1 to 12 months with no recurrences. This study demonstrates the im portance of laparoscopy in identifying undiagnosed contralateral herni as, that bilateral hernias can be repaired with no additional morbidit y, and that there are high rates of success and safety in laparoscopic hernia repairs in a community hospital.