Laparoscopic Hernia Surgery

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Laparoscopic Hernia Surgery

Laparoscopic Inguinal Hernia Repair repairs a patient’s groin hernia. Traditionally, such a hernia was repaired with an incision above the groin. Now, with laparoscopic technology, this hernia is repaired using three small incisions – resulting in a quicker recovery, as well as a faster return to work and normal activity. This video reviews such a procedure performed by Mark Liberman, M.D.

Herniorrhaphy (Hernioplasty, Hernia repair) is a surgical procedure for correcting a hernia. A hernia is a bulging of internal organs or tissues, which protrude through an abnormal opening in the fascia. Hernias commonly occur in the abdomen (ventral), groin (inguinal), and at the site of a previous surgery(incisional). Open herniorrhaphy occurs through an incision. The tissue is either reapproximated, or more commonly the defect is repaired with mesh, like patching a hole. The mesh is usually made of polypropylene or polypropylene with Gortex.

In recent years, as in other areas of surgery, laparoscopic repair of herniae has emerged as an option. Advantages of lap over the open method include a faster recovery time and decreased post-operative pain. Although lap inguinal herniorrhaphy has a slightly higher risk of injury to abdominal structures (<1/100), the pain is less and the recovery is quicker. Patients having a lap inguinal hernia repair can return to unlimitied activity in 10 days vs 30 days with the open repair. Lap inguinal hernia repairs are definitely advantageous in patients with bilateral or recurrent herniae. There is no difference in recurrence rate in the hands of a surgeon experienced in both open and laparoscopic repairs, although the learning curve for surgeons for laparoscopic inguinal hernia repairs is approximately 50 cases .

Ventral, or incisional herniae, can be repair in an open or laparoscopic fashion as well. However, even with a lap incisional hernia repair, the patient should still not return to unlimited activity for 30days.