To compare the clinical efficacy of laparoscopic transabdominal preperitoneal (TAPP) hernia repair and Lichtenstein repair in the treatment of inguinal hernia.

180 patients with inguinal hernia admitted to Tunchang County People's hospital from March 2016 to March 2018 were selected, and divided into the experiment group and the control group according to the different operation method, 90 cases in each group. The experiment group underwent TAPP repair, and the control group underwent Lichtenstein repair. The clinical indicators and postoperative pain of the two groups were compared, and the postoperative complications and recurrence of the two groups were observed.

The operation time, hospitalization time and postoperative ambulation time in the experiment group were significantly shorter than those in the control group. The intraoperative blood loss and hospitalization costs in experiment group were lower than those in the control group (P<0.05). The VAS scores of the 2 groups showed a downward trend from preoperative to 6 months after operation (P<0.05). The VAS scores of the experiment group were significantly lower than those of the control group at each time points after operative (P<0.05). There was no statistical difference between the two groups in the incidence of complications (8.89% vs 12.22%) (P>0.05), and there was no statistical difference in the recurrence rate (0 vs 2.22%) (P>0.05).

Both TAPP and Lichtenstein hernia repair have advantages and disadvantages respectively. The former has a shorter operation time and hospitalization time, less postoperative pain, but higher hospital expenses; the latter has a longer ambulation time and lower hospitalization costs, but a longer postoperative pain time.