Comparison of Two Predictive Scores for the Development of Incisional Hernia

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Introduction: Incisional Hernia (IH) is a frequent complication of abdominal surgery, with an incidence of 10-23%, which can increase to 38% in specific risk groups. So far there is no ideal method to identify patients at high risk of developing IH, this variety in the criteria of inclusion of patients in different studies makes is very complicate to compare the results. The aim of this study is comparing the two predictive scores of incisional hernias (Hernia project Vs Van Ramshorst) with higher diagnostic performance and determine which is better to predict IH. Methods: An analytical, observational study was conducted between June and December 2018, in patients of both sexes, who were 18 years or older, undergoing midline laparotomy, regardless of their background diagnosis either urgently or scheduled between 2007 to 2016. The two different classifications, the Hernia Project score and Van Ramshorst score, were applied to each of the patients. With the identification of patients with hernia, two groups, healthy and ill, were performed and Bayesian statistics were made with it and to identify which scale best predicts the presence of this complication. Results: The records of 1085 patients undergoing midline laparotomy were reviewed. 296 patients were ruled out because their follow-up was not complete. Both tests were compared to determine the best diagnostic performance using the ROC curve and the area under the curve, finding that the Hernia Project Score has a larger area 0.724 compared to a 0.663 of Van Ramshorst. Discussion: In our patient cohort, the Hernia Project score has a greater predictive capacity, with an area under the best curve (0.72 vs. 0.66) however both They have a poor sensitivity and this is the main measure of the predictive capacity of any diagnostic test, so with these results, we can affirm that the Project hernia scale has a greater diagnostic capacity than the Van Ramshorst scale but still its diagnostic capacity is limited. Conclusions: Both scores have low sensitivity. We can affirm that the Hernia Project score has a greater diagnostic capacity than the Van Ramshorst score, but both have a limited diagnostic capacity.