To explore the clinical effect of laparoscopic trans-abdominal preperitoneal hernia repair (TAPP) in patients with indirect inguinal hernia.

60 patients with indirect inguinal hernia admitted in Department of General Surgery of Wuhu Fifth People's Hospital from May 2020 to December 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. All patients were divided into 2 groups according to different surgical methods. The control group (n=30) used Lichtenstein hernia repair, and the observation group (n=30) used TAPP repair. The operation related indexes, pain severity [visual analogue scale (VAS)] at different time after operation, postoperative complications, quality of life (SF-36 scale) before and three month after operation were compared between the two groups.

There was no significant difference in the total medical expenses between the two groups (P>0.05). The blood loss, recovery time of postoperative bowel sounds, anal exhaust time, recovery time of autonomous activities and total hospitalization time in the observation group were lower than those in the control group, and the operation time and treatment satisfaction score in the observation group were higher than those in the control group (P<0.05). The pain scores of the observation group at 6h, 12h, 24h and 48h after operation were lower than those of the control group (P<0.05). There was no statistical difference in the pain scores of the two groups at one month after operation (P>0.05). The postoperative complication rate in the observation group was lower than that in the control group (P<0.05). Three months after operation, SF-36 scores of patients in both groups increased significantly (P<0.05), but there was no significant difference between the two groups (P>0.05).

Patients with indirect inguinal hernia treated by laparoscopic TAPP repair has low degree of tissue trauma, fast postoperative recovery, low postoperative pain in the short term, low risk of complications, and better postoperative recovery effect compared to Lichtenstein repair. In terms of recent recovery effect, TAPP repair is similar to Lichtenstein repair.