Background: This prospective study of a new titanium-coated low-weight polypropylene (PP) mesh (16 g PP/m2) was designed to investigate the clinical efficacy and safety of totally extraperitoneal endoscopic hernioplasty (TEP).
Methods: In this study, 400 patients (average age, 53.5 years; range, 19-80 years) with a total of 588 inguinal hernias underwent surgery with the TEP technique between September 2002 and October 2003. Of these patients, 12.4% had experienced recurrent hernias after open suture herniotomy. In 92% of the cases (368 patients with 540 hernias), a lightweight (16 g PP/m2) titanium-coated polypropylene mesh was implanted without fixation, and in 8% (32 patients with 48 hernias) an identical medium-weight (35 g PP/m2) mesh was implanted. The first follow-up examination was scheduled for postoperative week 6.
Results: In the lightweight mesh group, the mean group, operating time per patient was 61 min, corresponding to a calculated time per hernia of 41 min. Two intraoperative major complications occurred: an injury to the cecum and an injury to the bladder. In 12 cases (2%), bleeding from epigastric, testicular, or pubic bone vessels was observed. No injuries to pelvic vessels were seen. One patient was underwent an endoscopic revision to deal with an anticoagulation-related bleed. The mortality rate was 0%. In 12 patients, postoperative hematomas developed. One preperitoneal lipoma had to be extirpated. No infections of the mesh occurred. The median follow-up period for 371 patients (92.3%) was 7.2 weeks (range, 4-14 weeks). These 343 patients (with 504 hernias) had been provided with a lightweight titanium-coated polypropylene mesh (16 g PP/m2) (follow-up rate, 93.2%). Of these patients, 3.5% reported persistent ingunial pain, 1.7% described a sensation of rigidity in the region of the groin, and 3.2% reported dysesthesia. The early recurrence rate was 0.2%.
Conclusions: The TEP procedure can be performed safely and effectively with the appreciably material-reduced and titanium-coated polypropylene mesh without the need for fixation of the implant. The low early recurrence rate of 0.2% is evidence that the posterior wall of the inguinal canal is adequately augmented. The question whether the material reduction and the titanium coating of the mesh may bring about a reduction in postoperative chronic pain and the sensation of rigidity in the inguinal area via an improvement in biocompatibility must await the results of the scheduled follow-up examination 1 year after the surgical procedure.