Ref (type)	Population	Outcome, Interventions	Results and statistical analysis	Effect size	Favours
Recurrence
Systematic review	4532 people, predominantly with unilateral hernia 18 RCTs in this analysis	Recurrence with open mesh repair with open suture repair	OR 0.37 95% CI 0.26 to 0.51	Moderate effect size	open mesh repair
RCT	100 men; 5 bilateral hernias	Number of hernia recurrences 4 years 2 with open mesh repair 2 with open suture repair	Significance not assessed See further information on studies for details on generalisability and power
RCT	106 people; 100 primary hernias, 6 recurrent hernias	Recurrence 0/54 (0%) with open mesh repair 1/52 (2%) with open suture repair	P = 0.08 See further information on studies for details on generalisability and power		Not significant
RCT	196 men; 216 primary inguinal hernias	Hernia recurrence 5 with open mesh repair 8 with open suture repair	P >0.05 See further information on studies for details on generalisability and power		Not significant
RCT 3-armed trial	280 men with primary inguinal hernias	Recurrence 1 with open mesh repair 6 with open suture repair	P = 0.055 for open mesh v open suture repair See further information on studies for details on generalisability and power		Not significant