ABSTRACT
It has been suggested that the general anesthesia needed for laparoscopic herniorrhaphy is a major drawback, and open procedures are preferred because they can be performed under local anesthesia. However, numerous reports have revealed the relative absence of anesthesiarelated complications, probably associated with proper patient selection.4,5 If a medical contraindication, other
than age, to general anesthesia exists, then hernias must be repaired through an anterior approach under local anesthesia. No controlled trial has been published that has shown definitely that a local anesthetic is truly superior to carefully administered general anesthesia. Consequently, this does not represent a strong reason to avoid TAPP or TEP.
