Laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair by an intraperitoneal onlay mesh technique using expanded PTFE - A prospective study

This prospective trial was initiated to assess laparoscopic inguinal hernia repairs by an intraabdominal intraperitoneal onlay mesh (IPOM) technique. An IPOM method utilizing 10 x 7.5-cm expanded polytef (PTFE) patches was used to repair 52 inguinal hernias in 50 patients. Then were two patients with bilateral defects. Fourteen were direct and 38 were indirect hernias. There was one patient with bladder perforation, one with strangulation of the small bowel that entered the sac of a recurrent defect, and five patients with other minor complications. There were two recurrences. The follow-up period ranged from 5 to 31 months. The operating time ranged from 35 to 180 min and was 35-60 min in 40 patients. The postoperative pain was minimal in 40 patients. Our conclusions are as follows: This IPOM method was less time consuming in theater time than other laparoscopic methods. There was minimal postoperative pain in the majority of cases. The hospital stay was shorter in comparison with the standardized stay for conventional methods. The case with recurrence and strangulation raises some questions as to the safety of this method. Hospital costs of conventional herniorrhaphies were lower (63%) than those of this laparoscopic method.