Laparoscopic hernia repair: a plea for science and statistics

Anterior tension-free repair of recurrent inguinal hernia under local anesthesia: a 7-year experience in a teaching hospital

OBJECTIVE

To describe a 7-year experience with recurrent inguinal hernia repair performed mainly with tension-free mesh or plug technique under local anesthesia through the anterior approach, and to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of this method of treatment.

METHODS

One hundred forty-five elective and 1 emergency herniorrhaphies for recurrent groin hernia were performed in 141 subjects (134 men and 7 women) with a mean age of 65 years (range 30-89). Concomitant medical and surgical problems were present in 73% and 8% of subjects, respectively. In 28 instances, the relapsed hernia had already been operated on once or twice for recurrence. A traditional hernioplasty had been previously performed in the vast majority of cases (136). Tension-free mesh or plug techniques through an anterior approach under local anesthesia were performed in 144 reoperations. Preperitoneal mesh repair and general or spinal anesthesia were used in all but one case when herniorrhaphy was performed during simultaneous operations.

RESULTS

Mean hospital stay after surgery was 1.5 days (range 3 hours-14 days). No perioperative deaths occurred in this series. General complications were one case of acute intestinal bleeding and two cases of urinary retention. Local complications consisted of eight (5.5%) minor complications and one case of orchitis (0.7%) followed by testicular atrophy. In no instance was postoperative neuralgia or chronic pain reported. Two re-recurrences occurred.

CONCLUSIONS

Given the low complication rate in this and other reported series and the absence of surgical or general complications described after preperitoneal open or laparoscopic repair and after general and spinal anesthesia, anterior mesh repair under local anesthesia seems to be a low-cost surgical technique that can be safely and effectively used even in a teaching hospital for the treatment of the majority of patients with recurrent groin hernias.

Laparoscopic herniorrhaphy

There is little doubt that laparoscopic herniorrhaphy has assumed a place in the pantheon of hernia repair. There is also little doubt that further work needs to be done to determine the exact role that laparoscopic hernia repair should play in the surgical armamentarium. Hernias have been surgically treated since the early Greeks. In contrast, laparoscopic hernia repair has a history of only 6 years. Even within that short time, laparoscopic hernia repair techniques have not remained unchanged. This is obviously a technique in evolution, as indicated by the abandonment of early repairs ("plug and mesh" and IPOM) and the gradual gain in pre-eminence of the TEP repair. During the same time frame, surgery itself has evolved into a discipline more concerned with cost-effectiveness, outcomes, and "consumer acceptance." Confluence of these two developments has led to a situation in which traditional concerns regarding surgical procedures (i.e., recurrence rates or complication rates) assume less of a role than cost-effectiveness, learnability, marketability, and medical-legal considerations. No surgeon, whether practicing in a academic setting or a private practice, is exempt from these pressures. Laparoscopic hernia repair therefore seems to fit into a very specialized niche. In our community, the majority of general surgeons are only too happy to not do laparoscopic hernia repairs. On the other hand, in our experience, certain indications do seem to cry out for a laparoscopic approach. At our own center we have found that laparoscopic repairs can indeed be effective, and even cost-effective, under specific circumstances. These include completing a minimal learning curve, utilizing the properitoneal approach, minimizing the use of reusable instruments, using dissecting balloons as a time-saving device, and very specific patient selection criteria. At present these include patients with bilateral inguinal hernias on clinical examination, patients with recurrent unilateral or bilateral hernias, and patients who, because of economic pressures, must return to work within 10 days of surgery. Within these limitations we feel that the laparoscopic approach definitely has a place in repair of inguinal hernias. In the future new techniques, decreased equipment costs, and the ability to use local anesthesia may increase the applicability of laparoscopic herniorrhaphy.

Minimally invasive surgery

With the widespread introduction of laparoscopic cholecystectomy in late 1989, the practice and expectations of general surgery were changed forever. The techniques of laparoscopy were not new--they had been adopted by gynecologists and orthopedic surgeons at least a decade before--but it was laparoscopic cholecystectomy that captured the attention of the surgical profession and the public and spawned the tremendous growth in what has come to be called minimally invasive surgery. Although this surgery has tremendous appeal, offering quicker recovery, less pain, and possibly greater safety, it presents new challenges in the areas of training, credentialing, and quality assessment and raises serious questions about the real benefits of new technology at a time when the political and economic sensitivity of these issues is greater than ever. In this chapter I limit myself to a discussion of laparoscopy in general surgery, with a focus on what we have learned from laparoscopic cholecystectomy and on what this knowledge suggests for the future of other laparoscopic general surgical procedures.