The experience and awareness of laparoendoscopic procedures among Polish surgeons in everyday clinical practice

INTRODUCTION: In 2012, a total of 56 647 inguinal hernia repairs were performed in Poland. However, the absence of a uniform hernia repair register obscures the current herniology status in Poland, especially regarding laparoendoscopic procedures. AIM: To determine the awareness of laparoendoscopic procedures among Polish surgeons and to ascertain their everyday clinical practice. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The data were collected at the national hernia conference in 2016, during an interactive session for surgeons with a special interest in herniology. They could respond to the survey items using the VoxVote application. All items and response options were displayed on participants’ smartphones. The questions were related to transabdominal preperitoneal/totally extraperitoneal (TAPP/TEP) hernia repair. The surgeons responded to 27 questions regarding routine inguinal hernia repair. One hundred and six surgeons from all regions of Poland participated in the survey. RESULTS: 19.2% of respondents never inform patients about the possibility of performing laparoendoscopic repair. 45.2% admitted that they had referred a patient with a difficult inguinal hernia to another hospital or surgeon. Seventy-five percent stated they would be willing to perform TAPP/TEP if the reimbursement rates were more favourable. In bilateral hernias, 61.6% of the respondents perform a two-step open repair, while only 25% perform a single-stage laparoendoscopic repair of bilateral hernia. In women, only 13.3% perform laparoendoscopic hernia repairs, and 19.0% do not use mesh. CONCLUSIONS: The skill level to perform TAPP/TEP repair is still inadequate among Polish surgeons. The absence of accurate data makes it impossible to verify whether the treatment methods used are compliant with the guidelines.