Laparoscopic Transabdominal Preperitoneal Hernia Repair. Early experience of 37 patients

BACKGROUND: Inguinal hernia repair is one of the most frequently performed procedures in surgery and many different techniques have been suggested.This report reviews our experience with 39 transabdominal preperitoneal (TAPP) hernia repairs in 37 patients . PATIENTS & METHODS:  Thirty seven patients have been admitted for inguinal hernia repair in Benghazi Medical Center and in Aljala hospital, Benghazi-Libya. Laparoscopic TAPP repair is considered for all reducible inguinal hernias aged (18 – 70 yrs). Data was prospectively collected from January 2009 to December 2013, including age, sex, BMI, hernia characteristics, complications, mean operative time and mean hospital stay. Patients with irreducible, obstructed or scrotal hernias, previous lower abdominal surgery, BMI more than thirty five and an American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) grade higher than II were excluded. RESULTS: There were 34 males and 3 females, with a mean age of 33.4 years and BMI of 24.6. Mean operative time was 75 minutes .The mean hospital stay was one day. There was no conversion, mesh infection, bladder or vascular injury, death or recurrence after a median follow up for six months. Four minor complications occurred with two seroma formation, one wound bruising and one chronic groin pain due to tackers treated conservatively. Median return to normal activities was 10 days. One fourth of patients required no postoperative analgesia. CONCLUSIONS: Laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair was found in our study to be feasible, safe, with less postoperative pain, shorter hospital stay, and early return to normal activities. Key words:  Hernia , Laparoscopy, TAPP . Correspondance : Dr. Tawfik  Abuzalout . Surgical department , Faculty of medicine , Benghazi university . E- mail: tawfikz_salem@yahoo.com Tel: 00218925102770