Previous appendicitis may affect peritoneal overlap of the mesh in laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair.

Laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair is now increasingly performed in bilateral and recurrent groin hernias. The avoidance of direct exposure of the commonly used meshes to the abdominal viscera is considered essential to reduce the risk of bowel adhesions. We report a case of bilateral inguinal hernia repair in a patients who had had an appendectomy performed 8 years earlier for a perforated appendicitis. Probably as a result of previous inflammation, any attempt to dissect the preperitoneal layer in the right side resulted in peritoneal lacerations. Since the peritoneum could not be used to cover the mesh, we decided to position an expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (e-PTFE) mesh to avoid postoperative adhesions. The mesh was fixed with tacks to the symphysis pubis, Cooper's ligament, the ilio-pubic tract, and the transversalis fascia 2 cm above the hernia defect. This case suggests that in patient with previous appendicitis, a difficult preperitoneal dissection can be expected. In such cases, especially in young patients for whom future surgical operations cannot be excluded, any attempt to reduce adhesions is justified. At the present time, the use of e-PTFE meshes, which induce no tissue reaction, is a good option in this situation.

[Postoperative pain in laparoscopic surgery]. / Il dolore post-operatorio in chirurgia laparoscopica.

The occurrence of post-operative pain, although less severe and frequent than in open surgery, may affect length of hospital stay and early return to normal activity in some patients operated on with laparoscopic surgery. Although several pathogenetic factors have been indicated in the literature, the mechanism responsible for post-operative pain after laparoscopy; still remains unclear. In this study the Authors evaluated post-operative pain in 90 patients submitted to laparoscopic cholecystectomy and correlated it to the length of operation, endoabdominal CO2 pressure maintained during surgery, and use of local anesthesia instilled din the liver bed and in the sites of introduction of trocars. Measuring post-operative pain by means of a modified Scott-Huskisson Visual Analogue Scale, no difference in the severity of the pain was noted in the two subgroups of patients with a length of operation inferior or superior to 60 minutes, respectively. Conversely, a statistical significant difference (p = 0.04 and p = 0.049 according to Fisher exact test and Pearson test, respectively) was observed evaluating the use of local anesthesia and the level of CO2 endoabdominal pressure, with less pain in patients whose pressure was maintained under 10 mmHg and in patients treated with instillation of local anesthetic drugs in the liver bed and in the sites of introduction of trocars.