Maastricht 1999.

Methods	Randomisation by sealed envelopes.
Participants	79 patients eligible for general anaesthesia (ASA I‐III), between 20 and 80 years of age, with a recurrent inguinal hernia. Exclusion criteria included pregnant women, patients with coagulation disorders, advanced carcinoma, history of lower abdominal or other pelvic surgery (except appendectomy) patients requiring concomitant surgery, patients with giant scrotal recurrent hernias and patients with recurrence after a preperitoneal repair.
Interventions	Laparoscopic versus open mesh repair. Laparoscopic group: (n=42) repair performed by the TAPP technique. All patients were given a general anaesthetic. Open repair: (n=37) repair performed by the GPRVS technique. All patients were given a general anaesthetic.
Outcomes	Included data items: Operating time (minutes) Conversions Postoperative complications Postoperative hospital stay (% discharged) Return to work (stratified data) Chronic pain Chronic inguinal hypaesthesia Hernia recurrence Mortality Other data items: Postoperative pain (Day 1‐7) Use of analgesia Return to physical activities (stratified data) Abdominal muscle tests Costs
Notes
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Allocation concealment?	Low risk	A ‐ Adequate