Critical evaluation of laparoscopic hernia surgery

: The success of the laparoscopic cholecystectomy was remarkable and well-founded, thus it seems necessary to examine whether this procedure could be also used for other general surgical operations. Since Dec. 29th, 1990 the transperitoneal repair of hernias by laparoscopy has been performed in 177 patients. The patients were followed up in regular intervals. The first 100 patients were treated with the "plug repair" technique of Schultz and Corbitt. In this group one recurrence (4 month after operation) and one dislocation of a mesh roll (2 weeks after the operation) were observed. In the middle of April 92 we changed the laparoscopic operation technique to a preperitoneal mesh fortification analogous to the procedure of Stoppa. This requires a detailed preparation of all possible positions of the hernia (medial and lateral compartment). A cutting through all layers of the abdominal wall can be avoided. After the preparation all abdominal wall defects can be fortified effectively and clearly. In this group we have treated 77 patients, so far without complications. With the exception of scrotal hernias and adhesions the laparoscopic hernioplastique can be used in any indication of inguinal hernia repair. An evaluation of the long-term results can only be performed in the future although the early results are encouraging.