Laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair

Abstract

Laparoscopy has been utilized for the diagnosis and/or treatment of pediatric inguinal hernias since the 1990s. Initially described as a technique to identify the presence or absence of contralateral hernias in children (Holcomb et al. 1994; Lobe and Schropp 1992; Owings and Georgeson 2000) it has reduced the number of unnecessary contralateral inguinal explorations and the associated morbidity and complications. With the advent of innovative laparoscopic techniques and their constant evolution, pediatric inguinal hernias presently can be repaired in a safe, expeditious manner with excellent visualization, minimal tissue manipulation, and superior cosmesis. This chapter will describe, in detail, our technique of laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair and discuss several other techniques that have been developed since 1995. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2008.