A prospective randomized study comparing laparoscopic transabdominal preperitoneal (TAPP) versus Lichtenstein repair for bilateral inguinal hernias.

BACKGROUND: In literature, only a few studies have prospectively compared the results of laparoscopic with open inguinal hernia repair yet none have compared bilateral inguinal hernia repair. The aim of this study is to compare the open Lichtenstein repair (OLR) with laparoscopic trans-abdominal preperitoneal (TAPP) repair in patients undergoing surgery for bilateral inguinal hernia.

METHODS: Patients were prospectively randomized between March 2013 and March 2015. Outcome parameters included hospital stay, operation time, postoperative complications, immediate postoperative pain and chronic pain, recurrence and quality of life.

RESULTS: Sixty-one patients underwent TAPP repair and 73 underwent OLR. TAPP procedure had less early post-operative pain up to 7 days from surgery (p = 0.003), a shorter length of hospital stay (p = 0.001), less postoperative complications (p = 0.012) and less chronic pain (0.04) when compared with the OLR approach.

CONCLUSIONS: TAPP procedure for bilateral inguinal hernia effectively reduces early postoperative pain, hospital stay and postoperative complications.