Bilateral vs Unilateral Totally Extraperitoneal Repair Among Patients With Unilateral Inguinal Hernia

April 21, 2024 updated by: Dr. Bikash kumar sah, B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences

A Comparative Longitudinal Study Between Bilateral Totally Extraperitoneal Repair and Unilateral Totally Extraperitoneal Repair Among Patients of Unilateral Inguinal Hernia at a Tertiary Care Hospital in Eastern Nepal

The goal of this clinical trial is to investigate the feasibility of bilateral laparoscopic exploration for all unilateral cases followed by laparoscopic bilateral TEP repair in all cases with a contralateral occult hernia and to compare complications, recurrence rates, postoperative pain, and operative duration with prospectively performed unilateral repairs in young to middle-aged patients presenting with unilateral hernias in the surgery outpatient department.

The main questions it aims to answer are:

  • To compare complications, recurrence rates, postoperative pain, and operative duration between both groups.
  • Incidence of occult contralateral hernia Patients attending the OPD for unilateral inguinal hernia were counseled about the trial and fully encouraged to understand the difference between two procedures for unilateral hernia: bilateral exploration and bilateral TEP repair, upon which if a contralateral occult inguinal hernia was observed, documented, and controls were taken from the patients who denied bilateral exploration and underwent unilateral TEP repair. The allotment of patients was done in two groups of 30 patients each.

Researchers will compare Group A( bilateral TEP) with Group B (unilateral TEP) to see if complications, recurrence rates, postoperative pain, and operative duration occur in each group

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Detailed Description

Introduction Today, laparoscopic total extraperitoneal (TEP) surgery has emerged as the preferred and standard approach in today's era of technology, owing to the various benefits of laparoscopic surgery. Patients with unilateral inguinal hernia have a lifetime risk of 33% of developing hernia on the contralateral side.1 A study by Bochkarev, V. and Lal, P. et al. showed approximately 22% of bilateral defects in patients with unilateral inguinal hernia at TEP. 2,3 Another study found reasonable (20-25%) chance of discovering an occult contralateral hernia on exploration of the clinically asymptomatic side in unilateral hernias.3 Moreover, Studies have reported an incidence rate of 5%-58% for occult contralateral hernias at the time.4 The patient is at high risk of fibrous adhesions, bowel and bladder injury, and port site hernia if repeat TEP is planned for contralateral inguinal hernia repair. Thus, performing a bilateral repair for a unilateral hernia with/without an occult contralateral defect renders the patient free of the possibility of developing a contralateral primary inguinal hernia later in life, and this can be done in a single sitting or a single hospital stay. The patient holds various benefits (decreased chances of repeat anesthesia-related complications, risk of intra-peritoneal adhesions, bowel perforation, monitoring advantage) except for a minor increase in surgery time.5

Laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair is the standard procedure in our department and is highly demanding, complex, and at times controversial. No data is available till date regarding operative duration, complications, and recurrence rates in the Nepalese population. So, this study is designed to evaluate the constraints of this problem in the context of our developing country, measuring the outcomes between these two groups. The purpose of this study is to have a specific management plan for laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair, provide rationale for a current management plan, and try to formulate a protocol for our hospital. Whether clinically diagnosed unilateral inguinal hernias allow bilateral exploration, a bilateral repair would benefit the patient in the long term or not, and we anticipate evolving policy changes in the days ahead.

Method:

A total of 60 patients were included in this prospective longitudinal study from March 2018 to March 2019. Patients attending the OPD for unilateral inguinal hernia were counseled about the trial. Patients who gave consent for bilateral inguinal exploration and repair were kept in Group A, and those who did not consent for bilateral exploration and underwent unilateral repair were kept in Group B. The allotment of patients was done in two groups of 30 patients each.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

60

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

    • Koshi
      • Dharān Bāzār, Koshi, Nepal, 56700
        • Bikash Kumar Sah

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. age group of 16-55 years
  2. clinically diagnosed unilateral inguinal hernia

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. complicated hernia (obstructed and strangulated);
  2. past history of pelvic radiotherapy
  3. patient unfit for general anesthesia; and
  4. patient not giving consent

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Non-Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Bilateral TEP group
Bilateral TEP repair
TEP repair
Active Comparator: Unilateral TEP group
Unilateral TEP repair
TEP repair

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
To compare pain in between patients of bilateral totally extra peritoneal repair and unilateral totally extra peritoneal repair.
Time Frame: 6 months
The postoperative pain was recorded by a pictorial Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) at 6 hours, 12 hours, and 24 hours during the hospital stay, and during follow up in the outpatient department on the 10th day, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months, respectively.
6 months
To measure incidence of intra- and post-operative complication between patients of unilateral and bilateral TEP repair
Time Frame: 6 months
intraoperative complications: Visceral injury, Subcutaneous emphysema Postoperative: seroma, wound infection, and recurrence assessed during the hospital stay and during follow-up in the outpatient department on the 10th day, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months, respectively.
6 months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Rakesh Kumar Gupta, MS, B. P. Koirala Institute of Health Science

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

March 15, 2018

Primary Completion (Actual)

February 15, 2019

Study Completion (Actual)

March 15, 2019

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

March 16, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 21, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

April 24, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 24, 2024

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 21, 2024

Last Verified

April 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Subscribe