Mesh infection in the era of laparoscopy.

Background: The incidence of mesh infection during open hernia repair has been reported to be as high as 3%. With the introduction of laparoscopy, the rate of infection is still a matter of debate.

Methods: All 1182 laparoscopic inguinal hernia repairs performed at our institution from September 1991 to June 2002 were retrospectively reviewed to identify both mesh and wound infections.