There was an excellent article last week in the Wall State Journal about hernias.
Here is the link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203833004577249344022834000.html
The take home points of the article: 1) The laparoscopic repair of inguinal hernias results in less pain and quicker return to normal activity when compared to an open repair. 2) More importantly, there may be less chance of recurrence (the hernia coming back) after laparoscopic repair of a hernia.
I believe this last point wholeheartedly now. I am quite confident that more and more scientific studies will come out proving that the recurrence rate is lower when inguinal hernias are repaired laparoscopically compared to open surgery. For more information, please click here: Inguinal Hernia Repair