Laparoscopic Hernia Repair Surgery

Laparoscopic surgery can be used for complex hernia repair. Instead of one long incision, four or five tiny incisions are made in the area around the hernia. A device called a laparoscope, which is a miniature scope attached to a video camera, is inserted into one of the incisions. The surgeon is able to see the hernia and the surrounding tissue and organs on a video screen.

Instruments used to repair the hernia are inserted through the other incisions and the operation proceeds in much the same way as open surgery.

Hernia Repair Postoperative Complications

Any surgical procedure carries the risk for complications. Only a small percentage of patients who undergo complex hernia repair surgery have postoperative complications, which include:

• Bruising scrotum and shrunken testicles may occur in men following an inguinal hernia repair
• Bleeding
• Inability to urinate
• Infection
• Recurrence of the hernia
• Respiratory problems, usually resulting from general anesthesia

Your surgeon should be notified immediately if you cannot urinate after several hours; experience severe pain that is unrelieved by medication and/or comfort measures; develop a fever of 101°F or higher; or have bleeding, discharge, or severe swelling at the incision site.