Journal
SURGICAL ENDOSCOPY AND OTHER INTERVENTIONAL TECHNIQUES
Volume 31, Issue 3, Pages 1461-1468Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s00464-016-5139-8
Keywords
Inguinal hernia; Children; Laparoscopy; Recurrence; Contralateral patency
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The role of laparoscopy in pediatric inguinal hernia (IH) is still controversial. The authors reported their twenty-year experience in laparoscopic IH repair in children. In a twenty-year period (1995-2015), we operated 1300 infants and children (935 boys-365 girls) with IH using laparoscopy. The average age at surgery was 18 months (range 7 days-14 years). Body weight ranged between 1.9 and 50 kg (average 9.3). Preoperatively all patients presented a monolateral IH, right-sided in 781 cases (60.1 %) and left-sided in 519 (39.9 %). We excluded patients with bilateral IH and unstable patients in which laparoscopy was contraindicated. If the inguinal orifice diameter was ae10 mm, we performed a modified purse string suture on peri-orificial peritoneum, in orifices ae5 mm, we performed a N-shaped suture. No conversion to open surgery was reported. In 533 cases (41 %), we found a contralateral patency of internal inguinal ring that was always closed in laparoscopy. In 1273 cases (97.9 %), we found an oblique external hernia; in 21 cases (1.6 %), a direct hernia; and in 6 cases (0.5 %), a double hernia on the same side (hernia en pantaloon). We found an incarcerated hernia in 27 patients (2 %). Average operative time was 18 min (range 7-65). We recorded 5/1300 recurrences (0.3 %), but in the last 950 patients, we had no recurrence (0 %). We recorded 20 complications (1.5 %): 18 umbilical granulomas and two trocars scar infections, treated in outpatient setting. On the basis of our twenty-year experience, we prefer to perform IH repair in children using laparoscopy rather than inguinal approach. Laparoscopy is as fast as inguinal approach, and it has the advantage to treat during the same anesthesia a contralateral patency occured in about 40 % of our cases and to treat also rare hernias in about 3 % of cases.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available