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Meta-analysis of mesh-plug repair and Lichtenstein repair in the treatment of primary inguinal hernia

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Abstract

The present study systematically evaluated the clinical effects of mesh-plug and Lichtenstein herniorrhaphy in the treatment of primary inguinal hernia. PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library (cut-off: May 25, 2020) databases were searched to select randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on mesh-plug and Lichtenstein herniorrhaphy for the treatment of primary inguinal hernia. Articles that met the inclusion criteria were screened and evaluated for quality. RevMan 5.3 software was used to perform a meta-analysis of operation time, discomfort in the inguinal region, haematoma, seroma, infection, time to return to normal activities, incidence of postoperative chronic pain, and recurrence rate. Eleven RCTs with 1457 patients in the mesh-plug group and 1472 in the Lichtenstein group were included. Meta-analysis showed that the mesh-plug herniorrhaphy group had a shorter operation time than the Lichtenstein herniorrhaphy group [P < 0.0001] but a longer time to return to normal activities after surgery [MD = 1.48, 95% CI (0.58, 2.38), P = 0.001]. There were no significant differences in postoperative discomfort in the inguinal region [P = 0.90], seroma [P = 0.10], haematoma [P = 0.27], infection [P = 0.40], incidence of postoperative chronic pain [P = 0.90], or recurrence rate [P = 0.77] between groups. Mesh-plug herniorrhaphy requires a shorter operation time than Lichtenstein herniorrhaphy, and there is no significant difference in postoperative complications or recurrence rate between the two methods. Clinical trial registration: INPLASY202070088. Meta-analysis of mesh -plug repair and Lichtenstein repair in the treatment of primary inguinal hernia

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Author notes

  1. Miao Yu and Wen-Xian Xie equally contributed to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Basic Medicine, Sichuan Vocational College of Health and Rehabilitation, Zigong, 643000, Sichuan, China

    Miao Yu, Wen-Xian Xie & Sheng Li

  2. Department of General Surgery, Zigong Fourth People’s Hospital, Zigong, 643000, Sichuan, China

    Deng-Chao Wang

  3. Department of Pathology, West China Second Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610000, Sichuan, China

    Li-Yan Huang

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  1. Miao Yu
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Contributions

MY and W-XX designed the study. SL ran the search strategy. L-YH collected data. D-CW and MY re-checked data. SL and L-YH performed analyses and D-CW checked the analyses. MY and L-YH assessed the quality of studies, and D-CW confirmed the quality. MY wrote the manuscript, and W-XX edited the manuscript. All listed authors reviewed and revised the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Deng-Chao Wang.

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Yu, M., Xie, WX., Li, S. et al. Meta-analysis of mesh-plug repair and Lichtenstein repair in the treatment of primary inguinal hernia. Updates Surg 73, 1297–1306 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13304-021-01032-4

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