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Introduction: Over the course of the past several years, several improvements have been made to the traditional Lichtenstein's hernioplasty approach to reduce the likelihood of post-operative complications and eliminate the possibility of chronic pain. Earlier, mesh fixation was used to be done by suture application. However recently, different non-traumatic alternative methods of mesh fixation like tissue compatible glues are being considered. Methods: The present randomized control study included a total of 60 patients, randomized equally (n=30 each) into two groups. Patients in group A were operated on for hernia repair using polypropylene 2-0 sutures for mesh fixation while in group B N-Butyl-2 cyanoacrylate glue was used for mesh fixation. Results: Mesh fixation time was significantly more in patients with propylene sutures than in glue (p=0.001). Total surgery time was also more for patients of propylene suture group with unilateral (73.38±10.75vs 65.42±21.31, p=<0.001) or bilateral (149±51.19vs 136±30.93, p=0.606) hernia, however in patients with bilateral hernia the difference was not statistically significant. Post-operative pain, analgesia requirement, time taken to return to normal activity, and postoperative complications like seroma, hematoma, and local numbness were not statistically significant. Conclusions: the use of a synthetic tissue adhesive N-butyl-2-cyanoacrylate glue is a feasible option for mesh fixation in patients with simple inguinal hernias undergoing Lichtenstein's hernioplasty, without adversely affecting the clinical outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Inguinal hernia repair by open method is among the most frequently performed surgical procedures. The current standard surgical procedure employed is Lichtenstein's tensionfree mesh repair which requires covering an area defined by anatomic landmarks like Anterior Superior Iliac Spine (ASIS), pubic tubercle, conjoint tendon etc. with a mesh. The distances among these landmarks vary depending upon stature, race, and gender of the patients. Aim: To study whether the commercially available mesh size can be reduced specifically for a subset of Indian population by estimating the actual sizes of mesh applied during inguinal hernia surgery. Materials and Methods: In this prospective clinical study 25 patients undergoing open inguinal mesh hernioplasty were studied at a tertiary care centre over a period of one year from August 2019 to July 2020. During surgery the standard size commercially available mesh (15x7.5 cm2) was trimmed down according to the dimensions and anatomical landmarks that were assessed during surgery in the usual manner. Since it is difficult to measure size of applied mesh intraoperatively and because it is often irregular in shape, a novel method was adopted to estimate the mesh size applied. The trimmed out portions of the mesh were weighed using a high precision electronic weighing machine. The ratio of weight of trimmed out portion to total weight of the standard sized mesh was used to derive the area of the mesh applied. Statistical analysis and significance tests were performed using spreadsheet software and student's t-test, respectively. Results: Areas of mesh actually applied in the study-mean (85.26±11.04 cm2), mean+2SD (107.34 cm2), most common (75-97.4 cm2) and maximum (102.75 cm2)- all were found to be less than the standard, commercially available size of mesh. No statistically significant difference was found between areas of mesh applied in patients with indirect and direct hernias using unpaired student t-test (p-value=0.1076). Conclusion: Areas of mesh actually applied in present study were found to be less than the standard, commercially available size of mesh for inguinal hernia repair. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]