BACKGROUND Inguinal hernias constitute an important public health problem and often pose a surgical dilemma even for the most skilled surgeon. 1 They are the most common form of abdominal wall hernias. The present prospective study was proposed to compare inguinal hernia repair by Lichtenstein method Vs. Open pre-peritoneal mesh repair regarding drawbacks such as complications, early recurrence and benefits like lower severity of pain and time of hospital stay/surgery. MATERIALS AND METHODS The present study was a prospective randomised study in the Department of General Surgery at Era's Lucknow Medical College and Hospital from October, 2013. All the patients were followed up for 6 months. Out of 100 patients, 50 underwent Lichtenstein procedure and other 50 underwent open pre-peritoneal mesh repair. RESULTS Mean duration of surgery was 51.60±7.03 min. in Group I and 71.50±8.03 in Group II, thus showing a significant difference between two groups (p<0.001). Mean duration of hospital stay was 6.72±0.83 days in Group I and 5.52±1.04 days in Group II. CONCLUSION The findings of present study suggested that post-operative complications, pain and recurrence rates were lower in pre-peritoneal repair group as compared to Lichtenstein repair group, hence open pre-peritoneal hernia repair is recommended as a surgical procedure of choice.

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