Laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair using fine-caliber instruments and polyester mesh.

Laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair (LH) requires similar scar size to traditional open repair. To perform LH with minimal access, finer instruments were used. A 5-mm laparoscope was inserted from the umbilicus, and surgical instruments were inserted through 5- and 3-mm trocars to perform LH by the transabdominal preperitoneal approach. Polyester mesh was placed over the hernia orifice and the peritoneum was closed with 3-0 silk sutures. Sixteen patients underwent smaller access LH and 24 had standard LH. Although smaller access LH took longer (105.7 versus 83.9 min), significantly fewer patients required analgesia after smaller access LH than after standard LH (12.5 versus 70.8%), and the postoperative hospital stay was shorter (4.6 versus 5.6 days). In addition, a better cosmetic outcome was obtained with smaller access LH. In conclusion, access was minimized by using fine-caliber instruments and polyester mesh, making LH less invasive and improving the cosmetic outcome.