| Abstract [eng] |
Postoperative abdominal wall hernias are one of the most common complications of abdominal surgery. With the permission of the Vilnius Regional Biomedical Research Ethics Committee, a prospective randomised study is being conducted at Vilnius University Hospital, comparing standard retromuscular (sublay) hernia repair when the mesh is fixed, with retromuscular (sublay) hernia repair when the mesh is not fixed. Not fixing the mesh would likely save operating time, reduce postoperative pain due to less tissue trauma, and improve quality of life after surgery. To test our hypothesis that postoperative abdominal wall hernia repair without mesh fixation is appropriate, we selected the following outcomes for evaluation. Primary outcome: postoperative pain. Secondary outcomes: operative time, postoperative seromas, hernia recurrence, and quality-of-life assessment. The study included 99 patients—65 women and 34 men—who were examined at 1 and 6 months, and at 1, 3, and 5 years after surgery. During the study, we found that in the group of postoperative abdominal wall hernia repairs in which the mesh was not fixed, the group had statistically significant shorter operation and mesh implantation times, less blood loss during the operation, less postoperative pain, and fewer abdominal wall seromas (p < 0.05). Our study showed that postoperative abdominal wall hernia repair without mesh fixation is a safe and reliable surgical method. |
