Purpose

Laparoscopic and robotic inguinal hernia mesh repair are both common surgical procedures worldwide. Postoperative hernia recurrence and seroma formation are important concerns. In ventral hernia, primary defect closure in laparoscopic surgery reduces the recurrence rate. However, there is no synthetic evidence of direct inguinal hernia defect closure versus non-closure in minimal invasive surgery. Therefore, this study investigated the efficacy of defect closure in patients undergoing minimal invasive direct inguinal hernia mesh repair.

Methods

Eligible studies were identified through a search of PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and CINAHL from their inception until March 2022. Studies examining defect closure in laparoscopic direct inguinal hernia repair were included, and a meta-analysis was performed using the random-effect model. Sensitivity analyses were performed by removing one study at a time. The primary outcomes were hernia recurrence and seroma formation. Acute and chronic postoperative pain, operation time, and length of hospital stay were the secondary outcomes.

Results

Five nonrandomized studies and one randomized controlled trial were included. Pooled analysis revealed defect closure might reduce the hernia recurrence rate (risk difference, − 0.02; 95% confidence interval [CI] − 0.04 to − 0.00; p = 0.02). The result of seroma formation (odds ratio, 0.49; 95% CI 0.17–1.46; p = 0.20) showed no significant difference. Moreover, no significant differences were observed in acute postoperative pain, chronic pain, length of hospital stay, and operation time.

Conclusions

Our study indicated defect closure seems to be an option to reduce the direct inguinal hernia recurrence rate. No significant benefits were shown in seroma formation and other secondary outcomes. Our study was mostly based on nonrandomized studies and underestimated the effect of defect closure; thus, further high-quality studies are required to draw definitive conclusions.