Inguinal hernia repair is a very common general surgical procedure for which there have been a number of operations devised over many years. The keyhole approach was first attempted in the late 1980 s and for certain patients a laparoscopic hernia repair holds very definite advantages. There is very effective medication to deal with this condition which works in most cases. However there is a significant percentage of people in whom the medical therapy either does not work or fails to control symptoms after a time. In addition many, particularly young, people are unhappy to stay on medication long term or for life.
General practitioners are often reluctant to prescribe the best medication because of cost.
There is now a very effective keyhole operation for such patients called a laparoscopic fundoplication . Medical treatment for this condition is sometimes but often not effective. The keyhole operation of thoracoscopic sympathectomy is a highly effective way of dealing with this problem. A variety of further keyhole operations are discussed in the other laparoscopic operations page. If you wish to learn more about these conditions and the keyhole operations that can be employed to deal with them click on the hyper links above.