Comparing Non-fixation of Mesh to Mesh Fixation in Laparoscopic Inguinal Hernia Repair

• Recurrence of Inguinal Hernia on the Operated Side in Mesh Non-fixation and Mesh Fixation Group. [ Time Frame: 1 year ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  Patients in both the arms will be followed up post operatively at 24 hours, 1 week, 1 month and 1 year to check for recurrence or persistence of inguinal hernia on the operated side. At these follow up visits, the patients would be asked about reoccurence of bulge on the operated side and will be examined clinically. In case, there is a suspicion of recurrence, the patient would be examined by a second surgeon and undergo Ultrasound and/or CT to confirm the recurrence of hernia.
  
  
• Proportion of Patients Having Pain in the Post Operative Period [ Time Frame: 1 month ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  To compare the proportion of patients having pain in the mesh fixation and non fixation group at one month postoperatively.
  
  

• Seroma Formation [ Time Frame: One year ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  A seroma was defined as a non tender, irreducible hemispherical swelling with a fluctuant or firm consistency at the hernia site, examined and found during the first year. The diagnosis was based on the clinical finding of a palpable fluid collection without a size limit. One could get above the upper border of the swelling and there was usually absence of a cough impulse. To detect seroma, the clinical examination was carried at the first follow-up visit on the 7th postoperative day.
  
  

Hernia repair is one of the most common surgery performed all over the world. The same is true about India. With more than a billion population, the number of hernia patients in India perhaps run in millions. The laparoscopic repair is increasingly becoming popular in India.

Decreased post operative pain and lesser morbidity are the main advantages of Total Extra Peritoneal Repair (TEP) over open hernia repair. Laparoscopic hernia repair is now recommended as the method of choice for bilateral and recurrent inguinal hernias. The disadvantages of TEP are requirement of general anesthesia (GA), need to fix the mesh, seroma formation and difficult learning curve. Fixation of mesh with metal staples, apart from increasing the cost, may lead to new post operative groin pain which even becomes chronic in small percentage of patients. This had led to various studies showing that the non-fixation of mesh is safe, cost effective and lead to no increased risk of hernia recurrence compared to the conventional open hernia repair. Requirement of GA for TEP repair also had several disadvantages compared to regional anesthesia such as significant hemodynamic changes, delayed recovery, post operative nausea and vomiting, increased cost and inability to give anesthesia in high cardio-pulmonary risk patients. Several studies in recent past have demonstrated TEP is feasible and safe in regional anesthesia (epidural or spinal) as well. We earlier reported that TEP repair could be done without fixation of the mesh under regional anesthesia.

This study is a Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) comparing the outcome of non-fixation of mesh during laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair with fixation of mesh under spinal anesthesia. The end points measured would be the recurrence of the hernia and pain in the post operative period.