Assessment And Comparison Of Laparoscopic Hernia & Open Lichtenstein Repair A Retrospective Study

Abstract

Objective: Laparoscopic hernia repair (LH) is widely practiced, yet the available evidence regarding its superiority over Lichtenstein open hernia repair (OH) is still inconclusive. So, we compare the safety and effectiveness of LH and OH in this study. 
Study Design and Setting: A retrospective comparative cross-sectional study was done in Civil Hospital Karachi and Bantva Memon Hospital Karachi for four years (Jan 2014- Dec 2017) using a non-probability consecutive sampling method.
Methodology: 84 patients were included, with 52 (62%) undergoing OH repair (Group A) and 32 (38%) undergoing LH (TAPP) repair (Group B). The mean operative time, complications, and duration of hospital stay were compared between the two groups.
Results: Our results showed that the mean operative time was significantly longer in Group B than in Group A (52±15 minutes’ vs 34±10 minutes, respectively). The incidence of scrotal hematoma was significantly lower in Group B than in Group A (1% versus 8%, respectively). The postoperative pain score was significantly higher in Group A than in Group B (P>0.01), and the recovery time and time to return to work were significantly longer in the OH repair group, wound infection was observed in 6% of patients in Group A. The mean hospital stay was significantly shorter in Group B than in Group A (1±0.025 days versus 2±0.5 days, respectively).
Conclusion: Our study demonstrated that LH is a safe and effective technique associated with fewer complications compared to OH. These findings suggest that LH could be considered as a preferred method over LH.