Laparoscopic vs open hernia repair: A comparative study of operating time,hospitalization and total hospital costs

There is an ongoing controversy about laparoscopic or open inguinal hernia repair. The open approach is over one hundred years old, can be done under local anesthesia as an out patient procedure in any operating room, by all surgeons, with simple instruments, has few complications and excellent long term results. The laparoscopic approach is only 10 years old, requires gen eral anesthesia, sophisticaded installations and the surgeon needs training in advanced laparoscopic surgical techniqnes, has more and serious complic ations and lacks long term follow up. This study about operating time and c osts of laparoscopic vs open hernia surgery sheds some more light into the controversy.