Inguinal hernia repair. The Nyhus posterior preperitoneal operation.

The posterior preperitoneal approach for prosthetic hernioplasty is a safe and sound procedure for the repair of adult groin hernias. The authors' results, 0 mortality, 2.1% minor morbidity, and 2.1% overall recurrence rate (1.26% for mesh hernioplasty), compare favorably with results in contemporary literature. This operation can be performed as an outpatient procedure or 1-night stay surgery. Pain is significantly less than with the traditional anterior Cooper's ligament repair, and rapid return to ordinary daily activities is possible. The authors favor the use of mesh prostheses in most cases of adult Nyhus types 2, 3 (not necessary in crural hernias), and 4 hernias. The authors recognize the value of two new approaches to hernia repair, that is, the laparoscopic extraperitoneal method and the tension-free mesh-plug hernioplasty, which share many of the anatomophysiologic principles with the posterior preperitoneal mesh repair.