[Use of polypropylene (Marlex) prosthesis in the surgical treatment of inguinal and crural hernia]. / L'uso delle protesi in polipropilene (Marlex) nel trattamento chirurgico dell'ernia inguinale e crurale.

High biocompatibility, low cost and easiness in use are most important reasons for the spread of biological prosthesis in inguinal and femoral hernia repairs; this fact has changed the surgical approach to this kind of pathologies. This new approach consists in re-creating a normal anatomic function of the abdominal wall, without new tension between muscles and aponeurotic structures. The authors present their experience after 379 inguinal and femoral hernia repairs between January 1992 and December 1993.

Trabucco's procedure and local anaesthesia in surgical treatment of inguinal and femoral hernia.

Traditional surgical techniques base themselves on some conceptual mistakes, the first of which is that the new wall is built with lots of stitches and this is the reason for pain and long time spent in bed. The second one is that the new wall is built with the patient's muscles and aponeurotic tissues, this procedure leading to biological weakness. It is not possible to demonstrate the connection between traditional techniques and hernia recurrence, but we think that there are enough reasons to choose prosthesis technique. In all our cases of inguinal and femoral hernia the procedure applied was the Trabucco tension-free hernioplasty repair. This technique is simple, effective, rapid, the post-operative pain is reduced and all patients return to full activities rapidly. Now, with the modern prosthetic materials and new surgical techniques it's possible to repair all types of hernias and re-create normal anatomic function of the abdominal wall without new tension between muscles and aponeurothic structures. Authors show the actual trend of tension-free inguinal and femoral hernia repair, by taking into consideration risks, type of anaesthesia and surgical technique.