What are the Disadvantages of Laparoscopic Hernia Surgery?
The main potential risk of laparoscopic hernia surgery is accidental damage to the bowels or internal blood vessels during surgery. This is exceedingly rare, and is indeed common to all forms of keyhole and laparoscopic surgery. Care is always taken when making the small incisions to gain entry into the abdomen to avoid this from happening. A general anaesthetic is always required. Most open hernia operations also require a general anaesthetic, but some are suitable for treatment using local anaesthetic. The two main reasons why laparoscopic hernia surgery is not as widely available as traditional open surgery is firstly because by using special (disposable) instruments it becomes more expensive for hospitals and trusts to provide this service, and secondly because not many general surgeon who usually perform hernia repair have had training in keyhole surgery.
