University Surgical Consultants chicago hipec

Minimally Invasive Surgery - Laparoscopic Hernia Repair

Hernia is a protrusion of an organ through the wall that usually contains it. It is either congenital, or it develops later in life especially in the more active people.
Inguinal hernia occurs in teh groin, is more common in males, and could protrude into the scrotum.
The only treatment for hernia is surgical repair. The conventional surgery has been the open approach through a moderate size groin incision, deviding the abdominal wall to perform the repair.
Certain trained surgeons could implement Minimaly Invasive technique to repair inguinal hernias.
The surgeons at University Surgical Consultants offer laparoscopic repair through 3 small abdominal incisions. one used for the camera (laparocope) through the umbilicus (belly bottom), and the remaining two are for instrumets. Surgeon watches on a video monitor connected to the laparoscope as he manipulate the instrument to perform the repair. 
In the laparoscopic hernia repair, the surgeon first pulls the hernial sac back into the abdominal cavity, exposing the defect in the abdominal wall. This weakened portion is then covered with a mesh patch. Laparoscopy allows us to place and anchor the patch on the inside of the abdominal wall, taking advantage of the natural outward pressure of the abdomen to secure the repair and promote healing. In contrast, the patch must be placed on the outside of the abdominal wall in the traditional open operation. This difference, we believe, makes the repair less likely to recur if done laparoscopically.

Other than the obvious cosmetic advantages of the Minimally Invasive approach, we believe that due to the smaller incisions, the main is significantly less, causing a faster recovery, in addition to the decreased chance of recurence that we believe is due to the placement of the mesh on the inside of the abdominal wall.

Laparoscopic hernia repair is especially indicated and preferred when the hernia is bilateral (both groins), as the repair could be done on both sides through same incisions, as well as recurrent hernia after failed open repair.