A COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN TOTAL EXTRA-PERITONEAL (TEP) REPAIR AND TRANS ABDOMINAL PRE-PERITONEAL (TAPP) REPAIR IN MANAGEMENT OF INGUINAL HERNIA

Abstract

Background: Groin hernias are the most common conditions referred to surgeons all over the world and over five lakh hernia repairs are performed annually. Our purpose in this study is to compare the results of laparoscopic hernioplasty by Total Extra-Peritoneal (TEP) technique and laparoscopic Trans Abdominal Pre-Peritoneal (TAPP) technique.

Methodology: This was the prospective study conducted on cases of inguinal hernia in which half cases were operated by Laparoscopic Trans Abdominal Pre-Peritoneal (TAPP) mesh repair while other half were treated by Total Extra-Peritoneal (TEP) mesh repair of inguinal hernia in New Civil Hospital, Surat. All the patients were admitted and a detailed history and clinical examination were carried out as per written proforma.

Results: This comparative study consisted of 60 patients. The most common diagnosis was right indirect inguinal hernia followed by left direct inguinal hernia in the both the groups. Overall the TEP was far better procedure compared to TAPP. The indicators like mean operative, Post-op pain, post-op hospital stay (in days) and return to normal work (in days) were far better than TAPP.

Conclusion: Our study supports the view that laparoscopic TEP and TAPP mesh repair of inguinal hernia is safe and efficacious, but long term Randomized Control Trials with enhanced sample size and reduced confounding factors are still required to establish the absolute superiority of TEP over TAPP.