Laparoscopic hernia repair.

In this study, 101 consecutive laparoscopic transabdominal preperitoneal hernia repairs (LTPR) were performed in 62 patients by a single surgeon. The series began in April 1991 and involved repair of 49 direct, 41 indirect, 4 femoral, 3 umbilical, 3 sliding, and 1 incisional hernias. Twelve cases were bilateral, 11 hernias were incarcerated, and 15 hernias were recurrent. There were no intraoperative complications, and none of the procedures required conversion to open surgery. Patients experienced the following postoperative complications: transient testicular pain (1), transient anterior thigh paresthesias (2), urinary retention requiring TURP (1), and hernia recurrences (2). Follow-up has ranged from 6 to 17 months and initial results have been encouraging.