Long-term outcomes of 1326 laparoscopic incisional and ventral hernia repair with the routine suturing concept: a single institution experience

This retrospective chart analysis reports and assesses the long-term (beyond 10 years) safety and efficiency of a single institution’s experience in 1326 laparoscopic incisional and ventral hernia repairs (LIVHR), defending the principle of the suturing defect (augmentation repair concept) prior to laparoscopic reinforcement with a composite mesh (IPOM Plus). This study aims to prove the feasibility and validity of IPOM Plus repair, among other concepts, as a well-justified treatment of incisional or ventral hernias, rendering a good long-term outcome result.

A single institution’s systematic retrospective review of 1326 LIVHR was conducted between the years 2000 and 2014. A standardized technique of routine closure of the defect prior to the intraperitoneal onlay mesh (IPOM) reinforcement was performed in all patients. The standardized technique of “defect closure” by laparoscopy approximating the linea alba under physiological tension was assigned by either the transparietal U reverse interrupted stitches or the extracorporeal closure in larger defects. All patients benefited from the implant Parietex composite^® mesh through an Intraperitoneal Onlay Mesh placement with transfacial suturing.

LIVHR was performed on 1326 patients, 52.57 % female and 47.43 % male. The majority of our patients were young (mean age 52.19 years) and obese (average BMI 32.57 kg/m²). The mean operating time was 70 min and hospital stay 2 days, with a mean follow-up of 78 months. On the overall early complications of 5.78 %, we achieved over time the elimination of the dead space by routine closure of the defect, thus reducing seroma formation to 2.56 %, with a low risk of infection <1 %. Post-op sepsis occurred in only nine cases. Three secondary serosal breakdowns and two late perforations were re-operated, and three diabetic patients had infected hematomas, necessitating mesh removal. Through technical improvement in the suturing concept and our growing experience, we managed to reduce the incidence of transient pain to a low acceptable rate of 3.24 % (VAS 5–7) that decreased to 2.56 % on a chronic pain stage, which is comparable to the literature. On the overall rate of late complications of 10.74 %, we noticed also that by reducing the dead space, the chronic pain, skin bulging, and rate of recurrence were reduced to, respectively, 2.56, 1.50, and 4.72 %. One case of mortality was due to a tracheal stenosis, responsible for an acute respiratory syndrome. On a second-look follow-up of 126 patients (9.5 %), 45.23 % were adhesion free, 42.06 % had minor adhesions classified as Müller I, and 12.69 % had serosal adhesions classified as Müller II.

Our long series confirms the unexpected high rate of feasibility in the suturing concept or augmentation technique, and confers additional benefits to the conventional advantages of LIVHR in terms of reducing the overall morbidity, with a low rate of recurrences. Based on our experience and study, the current best indications for a successful LIVHR procedure should be tailored upon the limitations of the defect’s width and proper patient selection, to restore adequately the optimal functionality of the abdominal muscles and provide better functional and cosmetic outcomes.