Fifteen Years Experience in Laparoscopic Inguinal Hernia Repair in Pediatric Patients. Results and Considerations on a Debated Procedure

Background: Laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair is rarely reported in pediatric patients. We report our 15-year experience on this topic to show the long-term results of this technique.

Methods: During a 15-year period, we operated 596 boys for unilateral inguinal hernia using laparoscopy. The age range was variable from 6 months to 15 years (median, 54 months), with a median body weight of 18.5 (range, 8-54) kg. Preoperatively, 352 boys had a right hernia and 172 had a left hernia. We always used three trocars. We used the laparoscopic herniorrhaphy described by our group 15 years ago; it consists of sectioning the sac distally to the inguinal ring and performing a pursestring suture around the periorificial peritoneum using a 4/0 nonresorbable suture.

Results: The median operating time was 19 min. All procedures were performed in a day-hospital setting. As for laparoscopic findings in 95 of 596 patients (15.9%), we found a contralateral patency of the processus vaginalis. In these 95 cases, we performed bilateral herniorrhaphy. In 7 of 596 patients (1.2%), we discovered a direct hernia. With follow-up between 1 and 15 years, we have only 11 recurrences (1.5%)-all reoperated by laparoscopy.

Conclusions: We believe that laparoscopic repair of inguinal hernia performed by expert hands is a safe and effective procedure to perform with long-term follow-up. Its ability to repair simultaneously all forms of inguinal hernias together with contralateral patencies has cemented its role as a viable alternative to conventional repair.