ABSTRACT
Surgical History In 1890, Bassini described a technique of repairing inguinal hernias and strength
ening the inguinal floor. Shouldice later revised this concept in 1945. Plastic pros thesis were first introduced in 1954. In the 1960s Rives and Stoppa introduced the preperitoneal repair for unilateral and bilateral inguinal hernias respectively.1 In 1986, Lichtenstein first described his tension free repair with mesh.2 The 1990s saw the development of laparoscopic hernia repairs.1
