Efficacies of different meshes in Lichtenstein repair for inguinal hernia: a prospective study / 中华消化外科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To compare the clinical efficacies of polypropylene-polyglactic composite mesh, polyester mesh, polypropylene mesh in Lichtenstein repair for inguinal hernia.Methods The clinical data of 1 080 patients with primary unilateral inguinal hernia who were admitted to the Tianjin People's Hospital from February 2012 to May 2013 were prospectively analyzed.A randomized controlled study was performed based on a random numble table.All the patients were allocated into the ProGrip group (Parietex ProGripTM Self-Fixating Mesh), PET group (ParietexTM Lightweight Monofilament Polyester Mesh) and PP group (BardTM Soft Mesh).Patients received standard Lichtenstein tension-free repair under local anesthesia and were followed up by outpatient examination and telephone interview till May 2014.The indexs observed during the follow-up included occurrence of complications, post-operative pain and postoperative health-related quality of life.The following indexes were recorded time of mesh fixation, operation time, hernia recurrence, pain degree at postoperative week 1 and month 1, 6, 12 by numerical rating scale (NRS), quality of life at postoperative month 1 by SF-36 questionnaire survey including physical function, role physical, body pain, general health, vitality, social function, role emotional,mental health.Measurement data with normal distribution were presented as x ± s.Comparisons among groups were analyzed by ANOVA and pairwise comparison by t test.Measurement data with skewed distribution were presented as M (range) and repeated measurement data were analyzed using the repeated measures ANOVA.Count data were evaluated by the chi-square test and Fisher exact probability.Postoperative moderate and severe pain rates were evaluated by the Kaplan-Meier method and analyzed by the Log-rank test.Results There were 1 022 patients screened for eligibility including 367 patients in the ProGrip group, 346 patients in the PET group and 309 patients in the PP group.The time of mesh fixation and operation time were (1.3 ± 0.5) minutes and (30 ± 5) minutes in the ProGrip group, (4.9 ± 0.9) minutes and (45 ± 7) minutes in the PET group, (5.0 ± 0.9) minutes and (44 ± 7)minutes in the PP group, respectively, showing significant differences among the 3 groups (F =6.21, 4.33,P ＜ 0.05).There were significant differences in the time of mesh fixation and operation time between the ProGrip group and the PET group (t =1.36, 4.39, P ＜ 0.05), and also between the ProGrip group and the PP group (t =2.67, 2.99, P ＜ 0.05).There was no significant difference in the time of mesh fixation and operation time between the PET group and the PP group (t =0.98, 0.63, P ＞ 0.05).Nine hundred and nine patients were followed up for a median time of 13 months (range, 12-26 months) , with a follow-up rate of 88.943％ (909/1 022).The number of recurred hernia in the ProGrip group, the PET group and the PP group was 1, 0, 0,showing no significant difference (P ＞ 0.05).The NRS scores of pain from postoperative week 1 to postoperative month 12 were ranged from 0 (0-2) to 0 (0-0) in the ProGrip group, from 2(0-5) to 0(0-0) in the PET group and from 1 (0-4) to 0 (0-0) in the PP group.The number of patients with moderate and severe pain was ranged from 52(14.17％) to 0(0) in the ProGrip group, from 87 (25.14％) to 0 (0) in the PET group and from 89 (28.80％) to 0(0) in the PP group.There were no significant differences in the changing trends of NRS scores of pain and number of patients with moderate and severe pain among the 3 groups (F =1.66, x2=1.52, P ＞ 0.05).The scores of physical function in the ProGrip group, PET group, PP group at postoperative month 1 were 52 ± 4,50 ± 6, 50 ± 6, the scores of role physical were 50 ± 6, 50 ± 6, 50 ± 5, the scores of body pain were 52 ± 7, 52 ± 7, 52 ± 7, the scores of general health were 63 ± 4, 57 ± 9, 58 ± 8, the scores of vitality were 63 ± 5, 62 ± 6,63 ± 6, the scores of social function were 58 ± 4, 58 ± 8, 57 ± 8, the scores of role emotional were 59 ± 4, 57 ± 8,58 ± 8, and the scores of mental health were 65 ± 4, 63 ± 5, 63 ± 6, respectively, showing no significant differences in above indexes among the 3 groups (F =2.36,3.65,1.98,2.41, 6.32, 2.33, 4.21, 3.52, P ＞ 0.05).Conclusion Patients undergoing Lichtenstein repair for inguinal hernia with polypropylene-polyglactic composite mesh, polyester mesh and polypropylene mesh have comparative of incidence of postoperative complications, postoperative pain, quality of life, and present postoperative long-term low recurrence, low incidence of pain and relatively high quality of life.