LAUSR

Background Complications after inguinal hernioplasty pose a significant burden on individual patients and society because of high numbers of repair procedures. Recently, the long‐term results of a self‐gripping ProGrip mesh for open inguinal hernia repair have become available. The aim of this meta‐analyses was to compare these long‐term results with the results of a Lichtenstein hernioplasty with a sutured mesh focusing on chronic pain, recurrence rate, foreign body sensation, and operation duration. Methods A systematic review of the literature was undertaken to identify randomized controlled trials comparing open inguinal hernia repair with a self‐gripping ProGrip mesh and a conventional Lichtenstein hernioplasty. Results In the present meta‐analysis, the outcomes of 10 randomized controlled trials enrolling 2,541 patients were pooled. The mean follow‐up was 24 months (range 6–72 months). There was no significant difference in the incidence of chronic pain (odds ratio = 0.93; 95% confidence interval, 0.74–1.18), recurrence (odds ratio = 1.34; 95% confidence interval, 0.82–2.19), or foreign body sensation (odds ratio = 0.82; 95% confidence interval, 0.65–1.03), between the self‐gripping mesh and sutured mesh group at all follow‐up time points. The mean operating time was significantly shorter (odds ratio = −7.58; 95% confidence interval, −9.58 to −5.58) in the self‐gripping mesh group. Conclusion The self‐gripping mesh has comparable results with a sutured mesh regarding the incidence of chronic postoperative inguinal pain, recurrence and foreign body sensation. However, long‐term results still are based on relatively small patient numbers and outcomes measures are heterogenic. The main advantage of the self‐gripping mesh is the consistently significantly reduced operation time.