A comparison of outcomes between open and laparoscopic surgical repair of recurrent inguinal hernias.

Background: Inguinal hernia recurrence after surgical repair is a major concern. The authors report their experience with open and laparoscopic repair of recurrent inguinal hernias.

Methods: After institutional review board approval, a retrospective review was performed with the charts of 197 patients who had undergone surgical repair of recurrent inguinal hernias from January 2000 through August 2009, and the data for 172 patients who met the inclusion criteria were analyzed.