Prior 1998.

Methods	Eighty (80) participants with an inguinal hernia were randomised to undergo a modified Bassini repair (38) or a Lichtenstein repair (42) with follow‐up postoperatively and at 7 weeks.
Participants	Adults over 18 years of age with an inguinal hernia. Those who presented emergently, or with recurrent herniae were excluded.
Interventions	Participants underwent either: modified Bassini repair; or Lichtenstein repair. No further detail was provided regarding surgical technique. Antibiotic prophylaxis was provided to the Lichtenstein group but none given to the Bassini group, in a reflection of common practice. All participants were given opiate analgesia.
Outcomes	Postoperative follow‐up was performed at a mean of 7 weeks, assessing outcomes including the following. Duration of surgery Length of hospital stay Postoperative pain Rehabilitation (defined as time to return to normal activities/time to return to work) Postoperative complications: wound infection, haematoma, urinary retention, nerve pareses. These were not sought specifically at follow‐up, but participants were given opportunity to describe concerns such as these.
Notes	Duration of surgery was affected significantly by seniority/experience of surgical staff, but there was no statistically significant difference in time between the two groups of hernia repair. Mean hospital stay was similar in both groups. Bassini repair participants experienced significantly more postoperative pain than those in the Lichtenstein group. In general, postoperative complications were similar in both groups.
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Low risk	Equal numbers of envelopes containing a piece of paper on which was written 'Bassini' or 'Lichtenstein' were created.
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Low risk	Envelopes were selected just prior to the operating session by a person not involved in the trial.
Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias) All outcomes	Low risk	All participants in the study were blinded. For obvious reasons, the personnel/surgical team delivering care could not be blinded.
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) All outcomes	Low risk	The surgeon performing the postoperative assessment was not informed of the treatment group of the participants.
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	15 participants were lost to follow‐up. No further detail was provided, including whether intention‐to‐treat analysis was performed.
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	Low risk	All outcomes were reported and discussed.
Other bias	Low risk	None identified