Comparison of Three Types of Hernioplasty Using Meshes for Adult Inguinal Hernia: Lichtenstein, Mesh-plug, Prolene Hernia System

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to compare three types of hernioplasty using a mesh: Lichtenstein, Mesh-plug and Prolene Hernia System. METHODS: From February 2002 to April 2007, we retrospectively studied the clinical outcome of 138 cases of adult inguinal hernia patients who had operations performed with the use of mesh. Three types of mesh operations were composed of Lichtenstein repair group (LR group; N=18), Mesh plug repair group (MR group; N=38) and Prolene hernia system group (PHS group; N=82). The Clinical features and outcomes of the three groups were compared by age, sex, operation time, lengths of hospital stay, numbers of post-operative intravenous analgesics, complications, and recurrence. RESULTS: Mean age of three groups was 50.2+/-20.7, 51.0+/-18.4 and 61.5+/-15.9 years for LR. MR, PHS groups, respectively. The PHS group was significantly older than other two groups (P=0.002). The sex, operation time and lengths of hospital stay were not significantly different among the three groups. Numbers of intravenous analgesics used after the operations were 1.7+/-1.2, 2.7+/-2.2, 3.3+/-2.0 in the LR, MR, PHS groups, respectively. A lesser amount of IV analgesics was injected into the LR group than the PHS group. Although some complications occurred such as wound infection, hematoma, dehiscence, testicular edema in the three groups, there were no significant differences among the three groups. There were no recurrences in all three groups. CONCLUSION: We could not find any better outcome among the LR, MR and PHS groups.

A Comparison of Three Methods of Hernioplasty for Adult Inguinal Hernia: Bassini Repair Versus Lichtenstein Repair Versus Mesh-Plug Repair

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to compare three methods of hernioplasty: the Bassini, Lichtenstein and mesh- plug repair, and to ascertain the usefulness of mesh- plug repair. METHODS: Patients with primary a unilateral inguinal hernia who underwent Bassini (n=41), Lichtenstein (n=41) or a mesh-plug repair (n=40) between January 2000 and December 2002 were retrospectively reviewed. The clinical features analyzed were age, gender, operation time, use of postoperative analgesics, and length of hospital stay, complications, and recurrence. RESULTS: The operation times were (mean+/-SD) 57.3+/-5.4, 65.9+/-5.7 and 53.2+/-5.4 min for the Bassini (BR), Lichtenstein (LR), and mesh-plug repair groups (MR), respectively (P<0.001). The average number of analgesics used after the operations were 8.1+/-1.7, 4.9+/-1.3 and 2.8+/-0.8 in the BR, LR and MR groups, respectively (P<0.001). The lengths of hospital stay were 6.3+/-2.2, 4.4+/-0.7 and 3.7+/-0.8 days in the BR, LR and MR groups, respectively (P<0.001). There were three and two postoperative hematomas and two and one wound infections in the BR and LR groups, respectively but no postoperative complications in the MR groups. Two patients in the BR group had a recurrence, but there were no recurrences in the LR and MR groups. CONCLUSION: The mesh-plug repair is superior to the Bassini and Lichtenstein repairs in terms of operation time, postoperative pain and length of hospital stay. However, there were no significant differences between the groups in terms of postoperative complications and recurrences.