The impact of the surgical learning curve on operative time and perioperative outcomes in laparoscopic transabdominal preperitoneal (TAPP) inguinal hernia repair: A single-center retrospective study

To evaluate the association between increasing surgical experience and operative time and early postoperative outcomes in laparoscopic transabdominal preperitoneal (TAPP) inguinal hernia repair. This single-center retrospective study included 126 consecutive adults who underwent elective laparoscopic TAPP repair by the same surgical team between January 2022 and July 2025. Patients were chronologically divided into early, intermediate, and late phases of 42 patients each. The primary endpoint was operative time, and the secondary endpoint was 30-day postoperative complications. Baseline demographic and hernia characteristics were comparable among the groups. Mean operative time decreased from 88.0 ± 10.2 min in the early phase to 72.0 ± 8.6 min in the intermediate phase and 58.0 ± 7.5 min in the late phase ( p < 0.001). The overall recorded complication rate was 19.0%, 9.5%, and 4.8%, respectively ( p = 0.048). However, individual complication rates, including hematoma, surgical site infection, reoperation, and readmission, did not differ significantly among the groups. Increasing experience in laparoscopic TAPP repair was clearly associated with shorter operative time. Although recorded early complications decreased across the chronological phases, the low event numbers and unchanged reoperation rate limit conclusions regarding clinically meaningful improvements in patient outcomes.