Laparoscopic Repair of Ventral Hernia

Open surgical repair of ventral hernia involves long incision, wide fascia! dissection and flap creation, opening of the hernial sac, postoperative drainage, painful postoperative recovery. It involve delayed return to normal activities and complications such as: seroma, haematoma, wound infection, indurations and recurrence. Over the past decade, laparoscopic repair of ventral hernia has steadily gained recognition as an alternative to open procedures. In this study we evaluated the laparoscopic technique for its applicability and complications in the treatment of ventral hernias. Twenty three female patients suffering from ventral hernias were included in this study. A mesh formed of 2 layers of Polypropylene and one layer of Polytetra fluro ethylene was used in the laparoscopic repair of ventral hernia. The mean operative time was 67 minutes (43-124); the mean hospital stay was 2 days (1-5). Our complication rate was (21.74%) and included 2 cases (8.70%) of seroma, one case (4.35%) of haematoma, one case (4.35%) of mild wound infection and one case (4.35%) of bowel injury requiring conversion to open surgery. In our study we had no recurrence in an average follow up period of 11 months. Laparoscopic ventral hernia repair can be considered satisfactory due to less tissue manipulation, minimal blood loss, short hospital stay, moderate complication rate and reasonable operating time. It has a learning curve. Improved technical skills result in better outcome. Although these results are encouraging, larger, long term studies are still needed.