Comparative study of complications following laparoscopic TEP versus TAPP versus open hernioplasty in inguinal hernia repair

ABSTRACT

Background: Hernia repairs, both inguinal and ventral/ incisional, are some of the most common surgeries performed in the world. Over the last 5 years, the field of hernia surgery has had a significant transformation thanks to many new and innovative surgical techniques as well as exponential growth in mesh and mesh technology. The aim of the study To compare the intraoperative complications of TEP vs TAPP vs open hernioplasty in terms of operative time, major visceral or vessel injury and conversion rates. Materials and methods: This study was conducted in the Department of General Surgery, Government Stanley Medical College, and Chennai in 2018. 75 patients (25 cases of open hernioplasty, 25 cases of TAPP, 25 cases of TEP). Post-operative pain was recorded based on Visual Analog Scale and requirement of analgesics. Post-operative complications like urinary retention, wound seroma, wound hematoma, wound infection, port site infection, recurrence, mesh infection, bowel complication was collected with clinical examination and complications recorded. Results: The study involved 75 male patients who satisfied the inclusion criteria. 25 patients were subjected to Lichtenstein tension-free open hernioplasty, 25 treated with TEP, and another 25 subjected to TAPP. Among the 75 cases studied 21 cases were found to have left sided inguinal hernia, whereas 54 cases were having right sided hernia. Intraoperative complications like major vessel injury or bladder injury were observed. No intraoperative complications were encountered Rosy Adhaline Selvi, Manimegalai. Comparative study of complications following laparoscopic TEP versus TAPP versus open hernioplasty in inguinal hernia repair. IAIM, 2019; 6(3) 223-230. Page 224 during the study period in any of the groups. Post-operative urinary retention was found only in two cases of Lichtenstein tension-free open hernioplasty and this required bladder catheterization. All cases of laparoscopic hernioplasty were catheterized intraoperatively and catheter retained till postoperative day 1, hence urinary retention could not be assessed. The post-operative pain was measured using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) 6 hours after the surgery. The patient was given a dose of Injection Tramadol 100mg in after the surgery. The pain scores were analyzed with Chi-square and the difference found to be statistically significant. Lichtenstein tension-free open hernioplasty was found to have increased postoperative pain when compared to laparoscopic repair. Among the laparoscopic repair, TAPP was found to have increased postoperative compared to TEP. The postoperative hematoma was observed in a single case of Lichtenstein open hernioplasty. The hematoma was in the subcutaneous plain and required drainage. Conclusion: Primary unilateral inguinal hernia without complications can be treated with Lichtenstein tension-free open hernioplasty or laparoscopic transabdominal preperitoneal hernioplasty or laparoscopic totally extraperitoneal hernioplasty. Lichtenstein open hernioplasty has an advantage over laparoscopic repair in terms of shorter duration of surgery and learning curve.