The novel technique of transabdominal preperitoneal hernioplasty herniorrhaphy for direct inguinal hernia: Suture repair of hernia defect wall

Background: Conventional laparoscopic surgeries of direct inguinal hernia include two methods, transabdominal preperitoneal hernioplasty (TAPP) and totally extraperitoneal hernioplasty. Both methods are performed using synthetic mesh without suturing the hernia defect and require extensive mesh coverage for not only Hesselbach's triangle but also indirect ring. For minimally invasive operation, suture of direct hernia defect was devised and performed. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of defect wall suture of laparoscopic herniorrhaphy for direct inguinal hernia patients. Methods: We evaluated 210 direct inguinal hernia patients who received TAPP in Damsoyu Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea from September 2012 to December 2015. The patients were categorized into two groups according to TAPP techniques; cTAPP group had conventional TAPP without defect wall suture, and rTAPP group had defect wall suture TAPP. There were 99 patients in a cTAPP group and 111 patients in rTAPP group. Results: Operation time and postoperative hospital stay showed no difference between two groups. The postoperative pain score within the first week was significantly lower in rTAPP group than in cTAPP group (P < .001). The mean timing of a return to normal activities for rTAPP group was 3.8 days, which was shorter than 4.6 days of cTAPP group (P < .001). There was no difference in complication and recurrence rates between two groups. Conclusions: Defect wall suture for direct inguinal hernia had shorter operation time, faster recovery time, reduced pain, and an acceptable rate of recurrence and complication. This TAPP surgery with hernia defect wall suture that requires smaller dissection area is an effective method for treating direct inguinal hernia.