Objective To discuss the prophylactic effect of handling inguinal nerves correctly duing Lichtenstein inguinal hernia repair on chronic pain after operation. Methods 158 patients with inguinal hernia who were treated in our hospital from February 2007 to March 2010 were given Lichtenstein hernia repair. The ilioinguinal nerves were carefully identified and preserved during the operation, the nerve excision had been carried on only in the cases of existing nerve injuried or interference with the position of the mesh. Results The identification rate of iliohypogastric nerve, ilioinguinal nerve, and genital branch of genitofemoral nerve was 87.97%（139/158）, 82.28%（130/158）, and 34.18%（54/158）, respectively. The postoperative complication rate was 5.06%（8/158）, in which subcutaneous hydrops 5 cases, scrotal hematoma 2 cases, and wound infection 1 case, all recovered by conservative management. There was not inguinal hernia recurrence in 12 months of follow-up. In 1 month after operation, there were 63（39.87%） patients suffered from mild pain and 34（21.52%） patients suffered from moderate pain in inguinal region, there was no patient with severe pain, the mean pain score was 0.83. The incidence of chronic groin pain in 6 months was 5.06% （8/158）, in which 7（4.43%） patients suffered from mild pain, and 1（1/158） patient suffered from moderate pain. In 12 months, only 4（2.53%） patients still experience occasional pain or discomfort, the mean pain score was 0.03. Multinomial logistic regression analysis indicated that neurectomy had no influence on postoperative pain（P＞0.05）and non-identification of ilioinguinal nerve was a risk factor for early（1 month） postoperative moderate pain（OR=3.373, P=0.030）. Conclusions Standard surgical procedure acted according to the Lichtenstein guidelines and handling inguinal nerves correctly can result in low incidence of chronic pain after operation, and can make the patients have a better quality of life.