Background: One of the surgeries done on infants and early children most frequently is the correction of an inguinal hernia. Either the laparoscopic approach or the traditional open procedure can be used to accomplish this. The aim of this study was to compare the feasibility of laparoscopic approach versus open approach for the management of inguinal hernia in children.

Patients and Methods: This prospective randomized clinical trial study was conducted at pediatric surgery department at Zagazig University Hospitals. This study included 24 patients. Patients were randomly divided into two groups. Each group included 12 patients. Group A underwent laparoscopic inguinal herniotomy. Group B underwent conventional open inguinal herniotomy. All laparoscopic operations were completed without conversion to open approach.

Results: There was no statistically significant difference between groups regarding number of surgeons, occurrence of postoperative complications and cosmetic outcome. There was statistically significant difference between groups regarding duration of open approach which was statistically significantly shorter than laparoscopic approach, p=0.0001 and length of hospital stay was statistically significantly shorter in open approach versus laparoscopic approach, p=0.0001.

Conclusion: According to the results of this study which showed that the duration of open approach was statistically significantly shorter than laparoscopic approach and the length of hospital stay was statistically significantly shorter in open approach versus laparoscopic approach, so we conclude that open inguinal hernia repair is safe, more feasible and rapid technique