Types of Hernia Surgeries

The Hernia Surgery Center offers a number of hernia repair options. We will carefully evaluate your hernia before recommending a type of surgery.

Minimally-Invasive Hernia Repair

In minimally-invasive hernia repair, a surgeon uses a laparoscope—a thin tube with a tiny video camera at its tip—small tools, and a small piece of plastic mesh to fix a hernia. Some patients recover more quickly from minimally-invasive hernia repair than they do from open hernia repair. It may cause less pain than open hernia repair.

Open Hernia Repair

In open hernia repair, a surgeon makes an incision in the patient's abdomen, and pushes the bulging tissue or organ back where they belong. Often the surgeon uses a small piece of plastic mesh to repair the defect in the muscle tissue. For more information, refer to the Open Inguinal Hernia Repair (Herniorrhaphy, Hernioplasty) topic on our Dartmouth-Hitchcock Healthwise® Health Encyclopedia website.