Kw. Millikan et al., A PROSPECTIVE COMPARISON OF TRANSABDOMINAL PREPERITONEAL LAPAROSCOPICHERNIA REPAIR VERSUS TRADITIONAL OPEN HERNIA REPAIR IN A UNIVERSITY SETTING, Surgical laparoscopy & endoscopy, 4(4), 1994, pp. 247-253
In this study, laparoscopic transabdominal preperitoneal inguinal hern
ia repair and traditional open inguinal hernia repair were compared in
relation to operative time, hospital stay, pain medication use, recov
ery time, complications, and costs. Elective hernia repairs, 126 in 10
6 patients, were prospectively followed from January 1991 through Sept
ember 1993. Seventy-five procedures were performed by laparoscopy and
51 by traditional open approach. Time off work, pain medication use, s
urgical complications, and hospital stay were all significantly less (
p < 0.001) with the laparoscopic approach. Patients in the laparoscopi
c group returned to work on average 5.5 weeks earlier than patients wh
o underwent traditional herniorrhaphy. The difference in operative tim
es was not statistically significant; however, the difference in the c
ost of the operations was. In conclusion, laparoscopic inguinal hernia
repair offers significantly decreased postoperative pain, shorter hos
pital stays, faster return to work, fewer complications, and comparabl
e operative times, but at an increased expense for the cost of laparos
copic instrumentation and technology.