Background: Laparoscopic surgery is an alternative procedure for pediatric inguinal hernia (PIH), with a major trend toward increasing use of extracorporeal knotting and decreasing use of working ports. We report our experience with the modified single-port laparoscopic herniorrhaphy for repair of PIH and retrospectively evaluate a consecutive series of 1,107 cases in our institution.
Methods: Between February 2006 and July 2011, 1,107 children with indirect inguinal hernia were treated by laparoscopic surgery. All patients underwent high ligation surgery with a modified single-port laparoscopic technique, mainly performed by extracorporeal suturing with an ordinary taper needle (1/2 Arc 11 × 34). The clinical data were retrospectively analyzed.
Results: All surgery was successful without any serious complications. During the operations, contralateral patent processus vaginalis was found and subsequently repaired in 221 cases (20.0%). The mean operative time was 11 (range 5-14) min in 815 cases of unilateral repair and 20 (range 14-27) min in 292 cases of bilateral repair. The mean of postoperative hospital stay was 48 (range 26-52) h. Complications occurred in seven cases (0.63%) and were properly managed, with no major impact on outcome of the operations. There were six recurrent cases (0.54%) in the patients who had been followed-up for 9-74 months. There was no obvious scaring visible in any patients after treatment.
Conclusions: The modified single-port laparoscopic technique for the repair of PIH is a safe and reliable procedure with minimal invasion and satisfactory outcome. It is easy to perfect and to perform and therefore is a worthy choice for PIH.