Characteristics of data
| Characteristics | Laparoscopic group (n=95) | Open group (n=210) | P value |
| Age (years), median (IQR) | 3 (1–5) | 3 (1–5) | 0.856 |
| Male gender, n (%) | 62 (65.3) | 146 (69.5) | 0.507 |
| Side, n (%) | 0.444 | ||
| Right | 46 (48.4) | 104 (49.5) | |
| Left | 37 (38.9) | 89 (42.4) | |
| Bilateral | 12 (12.6) | 17 (8.1) | |
| Complications, n (%) | 2 (2.1) | 4 (1.9) | 0.681 |
| Recurrence, n (%) | 1 (1.0) | 0 (0) | 0.311 |
| Operative time* (min), mean±SD | 26.6±10.5 | 23.1±11.8 | 0.013 |
| Unilateral herniotomy in male patient | 27.9±9.6 | 24.5±11.5 | 0.045 |
| Bilateral herniotomy in male patient | 40.6±12.7 | 43.3±7.9 | 0.608 |
| Unilateral herniotomy in female patient | 20.5±7.4 | 15.7±7.1 | 0.004 |
| Bilateral herniotomy in female patient | 25.0±5.7 | 26.0±6.6 | 0.796 |
| Follow-up time (min), mean±SD | 23.7±0.7 | 33.1±5.7 | <0.001 |
*Operative time between laparoscopic group and open group after using the inverse probability treatment weighting of propensity score (propensity score created from the probability to choose the method of hernia repair with three parameters: age, sex and bilaterality).