Postoperative pain and quality of life after laparoscopic and open inguinal hernia repair: results of a prospective randomized trial

Background As part of a large prospective randomized Austrian multicenter trial evaluating recurrence rates and complications of open and laparoscopic unilateral inguinal hernia repairs we assessed postoperative pain and quality of life. Methods Approximately 151 patients were randomized to Shouldice repair, Bassini operation, or laparoscopic transabdominal preperitoneal hernioplasty (TAPP). Pain was recorded preoperatively and on the first four postoperative days. Quality of life was recorded preoperatively and 1 month postoperatively. Results Patients having Shouldice repairs had significantly higher visual analog-scale scores for pain on the fourth postoperative day (P=0.048) and significantly higher scores in McGill pain questionnaires on the first four postoperative days (P=0.046) compared with the other groups. Apart from a significantly lower score in postoperative bodily pain in the Shouldice group (P=0.039), no significant differences in quality of life were apparent among the three methods. Conclusions The TAPP and Bassini repairs result in less short-term postoperative pain.