Study on the Treatment of Postoperative Pain in Patients Operated for Incisional Hernia by Open or Laparoscopic Approach

Abstract

Postoperative pain is a common symptom in the postoperative period in patients treated for incisional hernia, often refractory to treatment. The purpose of the this paper was to conduct a comparative study on the need for analgesic medication in patients operated for incisional hernia through a classical open approach and a laparoscopic approach. In this respect, we performed a retrospective observational study over a period of 4 years in which we introduced 92 patients operated for incisional hernia in the Surgery Clinic No. 1 of the Emergency County Hospital Tirgu Mures. For the reconstruction of the abdominal wall we used prosthetic materials (surgical meshes). All patients included in the study received only metamizole sodium as analgesic medication. The patients studied were divided into two groups: group A (consisting of 57 patients where open, classic surgical approach was used) and group B (consisting of 35 patients treated using a minimally invasive laparoscopic approach). It was observed that on the day of surgery and during the first two postoperative days there are no statistically significant differences in the need for analgesic medication between the studied groups. Instead, starting with the third postoperative day, the need for analgesic medication is much lower in patients where laparoscopic surgical procedure was used than in those where open, classic surgical approach was used.