Inguinal hernia, commonly known as “small intestine retardation”, is a more common condition with a higher incidence in men than in women. With the aging of the population, the incidence of inguinal hernia is also showing a gradual increase. Surgery is the only safe and effective way to treat inguinal hernias, except for infants and children under one week of age. In particular, tension-free repair surgery for inguinal hernia has been commonly carried out in recent years, which has significantly improved postoperative comfort and reduced the recurrence rate after surgery, and has been well received by patients and physicians. With the people’s increasing demand for higher medical standards, minimally invasive surgery has become the preferred choice of physicians and patients in recent years. When it comes to minimally invasive surgery, people, including many doctors, generally think that it is the application of lumpectomy to perform surgery and equate minimally invasive surgery with lumpectomy. In fact, minimally invasive surgery is not only limited to lumpectomy, it is about choosing the most appropriate surgical access, the most precise surgical operation, the smallest surgical trauma, and the fastest postoperative recovery time to benefit the patient to the greatest extent. I will introduce several minimally invasive surgical approaches for inguinal hernia to see what are the advantages and disadvantages of each approach. 1. Transabdominal laparoscopic hernia repair (TAPP): This is the earliest laparoscopic hernia repair surgery performed, in which a total of three small holes are made in the umbilicus and abdominal wall to complete the hernia repair. Advantages: small incision in the abdominal wall, possibility of simultaneous bilateral hernia repair, fast postoperative recovery; Disadvantages: general anesthesia required, need to enter the abdominal cavity (increasing the risk of complications), high cost, difficult to operate on larger hernias. 2. Transperitoneal extraperitoneal hernia repair (TEP): similar to TAPP, except that this procedure is only performed extraperitoneally and does not enter the abdominal cavity. Advantages: small incision in the abdominal wall, fast postoperative recovery, no need to enter the abdominal cavity; Disadvantages: requires general anesthesia, higher cost, more difficult to operate, requires higher surgical skills, difficult to operate on larger hernias. 3. Kugel hernia repair (“Kugel”): the hernia repair surgery that best reflects non-luminal minimally invasive surgery. The surgical approach consists of incising about 3-4 cm of skin and other surface tissues in the inguinal region, directly entering the plane where the hernia sac is located, retracting the sac and then repairing the defective area with a patch. Advantages: small incision in the abdominal wall, fast postoperative recovery, only epidural or local anesthesia is required, and lower cost; Disadvantages: higher surgical skills are required and bilateral hernia repair cannot be performed at the same time. 4.Median small incision hernia repair: The surgical method is to take a small incision of about 5 cm in the middle of the lower abdomen to enter the plane where the hernia sac is located and perform defect repair. Advantages: bilateral hernia repair can be performed at the same time, requiring only epidural or local anesthesia, lower cost, and faster recovery; Disadvantages: slightly longer incision. By understanding the above minimally invasive hernia repair procedures, you can reasonably choose the right procedure for you, taking into account the patient’s own situation and the medical level of the local hospital.