Early complications in surgery of umbilical and epigastric hernias.

Abstract

Repairs of umbilical and epigastric hernias are common surgical procedures; the choice of the surgical method generally depends on the size of the hernial sac and fascial defect. Data of patients operated on for umbilical or epigastric hernias in our hospital during two years were assessed retrospectively. The study group included 264 patients; 212 had an umbilical hernia and 52 had an epigastric hernia. We assessed epidemiologic and clinical parameters and their correlation with the occurrence of early postoperative complications. We also looked for therecurrence rate, although during only ashort follow-up period. In the case of umbilical hernias, early complications occurred in 6.7% (11/165) after surgery with asimple suture and in 4.3% (2/47) with mesh repair, and the recurrence rates were 3% (5/165) and 21.3% (10/47), respectively. The risk of early complications was significantly higher in larger hernias. The recurrence rate increased with older age, an increased size of the hernial sac and fascial defect, and in patients with type 2 diabetes. In epigastric hernias, early complications occurred in5.3% (1/19) after surgery with asimple suture and in 6.1% (2/33) with mesh repair. Recurrences only occurred in operations with mesh repair, in 9% (3/33). The risk of early complications was significantly higher in type 2 diabetes patients. Early complications were slightly more frequent in epigastric hernia repairs with mesh implantation, but this was not the case of umbilical hernias. We recommend mesh implantation inlarger and borderline sized hernias to reduce the risk of recurrence.