No evidence for fixation of mesh in laparoscopic transabdominal preperitoneal (TAPP) inguinal hernia repair: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the differences in hernia recurrence and chronic postoperative inguinal pain (CPIP) in randomized, controlled trials comparing fixation and non-fixation of the mesh in laparoscopic transabdominal preperitoneal (TAPP) inguinal hernia repair. METHODS: A multi-database systematic search was conducted for randomized, controlled trials comparing fixation versus non-fixation of the mesh in TAPP inguinal hernia repair. All eligible papers were assessed for risk of bias using the revised Cochrane risk of bias tool for randomized trials (RoB 2.0). Quality of evidence was evaluated using the GRADE system. Meta-analyses were performed regarding recurrence and CPIP using RevMan. RESULTS: Seven prospective, randomized controlled trials were included. Laparoscopic TAPP inguinal hernia repair was performed in 1732 patients with 737 procedures performed without fixation and 995 procedures with fixation of the mesh. Despite all trials being RCTs, the trials were limited by substantial bias and the quality of evidence was low regarding hernia recurrence and very low regarding CPIP. Pooled estimates from meta-analyses were an OR of 2.80 (95% CI 0.61–12.77) for hernia recurrence and a mean difference in visual analogue scale (VAS) of 0.17 (95% CI 0.90–1.24) for CPIP, respectively. CONCLUSION: The current evidence is very uncertain and mesh fixation may have little to no effect regarding hernia recurrence and chronic postoperative inguinal pain in patients operated with TAPP inguinal hernia repair. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00464-023-10237-0.