Aim: The Aim of this Study to Compare the Technique for the Inguinal Hernia Repair, Comparison of Conventional Anterior Surgery and Laparoscopic Surgery. Methods: In this Study a randomized, multicentre trial in which 450 patients with inguinal hernias were treated by extraperitoneal laparoscopic repair and 500 patients were treated by conventional anterior repair. We recorded information about postoperative recovery and complications and examined the patients for recurrences one and seven weeks, six months, and one after surgery. Results: Six patients in the open-surgery group but none in the laparoscopic-surgery group had wound abscesses (P = 0.03), and the patients in the laparoscopic-surgery group had a more rapid recovery (median time to the resumption of normal daily activity, 6 vs. 10 days; time to the return to work, 14 vs. 21 days; and time to the resumption of athletic activities, 24 vs. 36 days; P<0.001 for all comparisons). With a median follow-up of 600 days, 30patients (6 percent) in the open-surgery group had recurrences, as compared with 17 patients (3 percent) in the laparoscopic-surgery group (P = 0.05). All but three of the recurrences in the latter group were within one year after surgery and were caused by surgeon-related errors. In the open-surgery group, 15 patients had recurrences during the first year, and 16 during the second year. Follow-up was complete for 97 percent of the patients. Conclusions: Patients with inguinal hernias who undergo laparoscopic repair recover more rapidly and have fewer recurrences than those who undergo open surgical repair. Inguinal hernias are common, and although the results of surgical repair are often satisfactory, postoperative recovery may be slow, and the hernia may recur. Recurrence rates have ranged from less than 1 percent to more than 10 percent, with a follow-up of more than five years. These data should be viewed with some caution, however, because follow-up data are often incomplete and unreliable. Indeed, the overall recurrence rate in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States and the results of large, prospective, controlled studies suggest higher rates (up to 15 percent after five years).