To explore the clinical efficacy of hernia ring filling surgery, Lichtenstein repair, and laparoscopic trans-abdominal preperitoneal repair for elderly patients with inguinal hernia.

A total of 150 elderly patients with inguinal hernia who were treated in our hospital from January 2018 to February 2020 were selected and randomly assigned to group A (50 cases), group B (50 cases) and group C (50 cases). Group A underwent hernia ring filling repair, group B underwent Lichtenstein repair, and group C underwent laparoscopic peritoneal repair. The operation time, postoperative ambulation time, postoperative pain duration and postoperative hospital stay of 3 groups were observed and recorded. On 1 d and 7 d after surgery, pain was evaluated by a visual analog score. The levels of inflammatory factors including C-reactive protein (CRP), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and IL-6 were detected before and after operation in 3 groups. The incidence of complications within 6 months after surgery was recorded.

There was no significant difference in the operative time between the 3 groups (P>0.05). The postoperative ambulation time, postoperative pain duration and postoperative hospital stay in group C were significantly lower than those in group A and group B (P<0.05), and the postoperative pain duration in group B was lower than that in group C (P<0.05). 1 d and 7 d after surgery, VAS score of group C was lower than that of group A and group B, and the VAS score of group A was lower than that of group B (P<0.05). After operation, the levels of CRP, TNF-α and IL-6 in the 3 groups were significantly higher than those before operation, the levels of inflammatory factors in group C were significantly lower than those in group A and group B (P<0.05), and the levels of IL-6 in group B were significantly lower than those in group A (P<0.05). At 6 months after surgery, there was no recurrence of hernia in the three groups, and the total incidence of complications in group A was lower than that in group B and group C (P<0.05). The incidence of postoperative neuroparesthesia in group B was higher than that in group A (P<0.05), and there was no statistical significance in the total incidence of complications between group B and group C (P>0.05).

Compared with open tension-free hernia repair, laparoscopic transabdominal preperitoneal repair has better efficacy in treating elderly patients with inguinal hernia, with less damage to elderly patients, faster postoperative recovery and higher safety.