If you are facing surgery for an inguinal hernia, you might wonder which surgical technique is best for your recovery. A large review of 1,319 patients compared two common methods: TAPP and TEP. Both are types of laparoscopic surgery used to repair the hernia.
The study found that both methods performed very similarly. Patients who had the TAPP procedure did not have different levels of pain, longer hospital stays, or more complications than those who had the TEP procedure. The time spent in the operating room was also comparable between the two groups.
There was a slight trend toward fewer repeat hernias with the TAPP method. However, researchers warn that this finding comes from older, non-randomized data and was not confirmed by high-quality clinical trials. Because the follow-up period was only 12 months, more long-term data is needed to be certain about which method is better for preventing a hernia from returning.
