Trends in the utilization of inguinal hernia repair techniques: a population-based study

BackgroundThe use of inguinal hernia repair techniques in the community setting is poorly understood.MethodsA retrospective review of all inguinal hernia repairs performed on adult residents of Olmsted County, MN, from 1989 to 2008 was performed through the Rochester Epidemiology Project.ResultsA total of 4,433 inguinal hernia repairs among 3,489 individuals were reviewed. Non–mesh-based repairs predominated in the late 1980s (94% in 1989), declined throughout the 1990s (40% in 1996), and are rarely used nowadays (4% in 2008). Open mesh-based repairs comprised 21% in 1990, peaked in 2001 with 72%, and declined to 55% in 2008. The adoption of laparoscopic repairs began in 1992 (6%) and has increased steadily to 41% in 2008 (P < .001).ConclusionsAlthough non–mesh-based repairs, once the predominant method, have been supplanted by open mesh-based techniques, nowadays the use of laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair techniques has increased substantially to nearly equal that of open mesh-based techniques.