History of the Clinic and Hernia Repair

Until the advent of laparoscopic surgery and the interest in laparoscopic repair of groin hernia, there were only two well known clinics in the world specialising in the treatment of hernia. These clinics were the Shouldice Centre in Canada and the Lichtenstein Centre in the United States.

Prior to the advent of the key hole approach which led to a renewed world wide interest in hernia repair, most surgeons were performing a standard Bassini hernia repair. This involved stitching of tissues under tension. When the results of this procedure were critically examined it was found that there was an unacceptably high recurrence rate. The Bassini hernia repair was effective and efficient in 80% of patients but there were many patients troubled by recurrence of hernia and pain after surgery. There was a tendency to treat hernia repair as a relatively minor operation. Because the procedure was so well established in the minds of surgeons and because of the absence of controversy about the established method of repair, there was little pressure for change.