In-hospital outcomes of robotic versus laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair in obese patients: a national inpatient sample analysis 2005–2020

RIHR is associated with lower complication risk and shorter LOS, but higher hospital costs compared to LIHR for obese patients. These findings suggest that RIHR may offer better short-term outcomes for obese patients, which should be considered in surgical decision-making. Given the retrospective nature of this analysis and the potential for selection bias and residual confounding, future randomized controlled trials are warranted to confirm these findings and provide more robust evidence to guide surgical decision-making.