Incidence and trends of decision regret following elective hernia repair

Is Minimally Invasive Surgery the Standard of Care for Ventral Hernia Repair?

When patients undergoing ventral or incisional hernia repair are reoperated for recurrence with an incidence rate of 16.0% following open repair and 18.8% following minimally invasive repair, it is time for re-evaluation of the real benefit of laparoscopy in ventral hernia repair.

Impact of preoperative frailty status on decision regret following elective hernia repair

PURPOSE

Decision regret following hernia repair is common, particularly for patients who experience complications. Frailty is a risk factor for complications, but whether frailty is independently associated with regret remains unknown.

METHODS

We retrospectively reviewed the Michigan Surgical Quality Collaborative Core Optimization Hernia Registry, a representative sample of adult patients from > 70 hospitals across Michigan. We included patients who underwent elective ventral and incisional hernia repair (VIHR) or groin hernia repair (GHR) from 2020 to 2021 and completed a survey measuring regret. Frailty was quantified using validated 5-factor modified frailty index (mFI5): no (mFI5 = 0), moderate (mFI5 = 1), or severe frailty (mFI5 ≥ 2). Primary outcome was regret at 90-days. Multivariable regression models evaluated the association of frailty with regret.

RESULTS

795 patients underwent VIHR: 294 (37.0%) were moderately frail, and 127 (16.0%) were severely frail. Severely frail patients were older, more often male, more comorbid, had higher BMI, and had larger hernias (all p < 0.05). Regret was demonstrated in 88 patients (11.1%). 2502 patients underwent GHR: 966 (38.6%) moderately frail, and 213 (8.5%) severely frail. Severely frail patients were older, had higher BMI, and more comorbidities (all p < 0.001). 271 persons (10.8%) expressed regret. For both VIHR and GHR, frailty was not associated with regret (p > 0.05). There were no differences in complications by frailty status (p = 0.10 and p = 0.22).

CONCLUSION

Despite their higher risk, persons with frailty are not more likely to express regret following hernia repair. Decision regret is important for evaluating quality-of-life operations, but frailty status should not be used alone to predict risk of decision regret.

Patient expectations and decisional regret in the management of ventral hernias

INTRODUCTION

Older adult patients have many factors to contemplate when considering elective ventral hernia repair. In this study, we aimed to understand whether our novel shared decision-making (SDM) aid helped reduce this population's decisional regret when choosing hernia management strategy.

METHODS

Patients ≥ 60 years of age presenting for ventral hernia evaluation were randomized to two groups. The experimental group had their visit guided by our novel SDM aid. All patients took a survey prior to consultation outlining their treatment expectations. All patients were called within 6 months to complete the Decision Regret Scale, which measures remorse after a healthcare decision.

RESULTS

Seventy-two patients (36 control, 36 experimental) completed final follow-up. On initial expectations evaluation, 53 patients (74%) reported wanting surgical repair and 58 patients (81%) reported expecting surgical repair. Ultimately, 18 patients in the control group and 17 patients in the experimental group did not undergo surgery. The use of the SDM aid did not affect if patients chose observation (OR 0.44, p = 0.24) or result in a lower decision regret score (9.86 vs 9.31, p = 0.89). Surgery was associated with a lower decision regret score (3.38 vs 16.14; p = 0.001). Of those who did not undergo repair, patients initially wanting or expecting surgery had higher decision regret scores (22.83 vs 3.33, p < 0.001; 20.40 vs 5.50, p = 0.009). Nonoperative patients who chose observation had less regret than those needing medical optimization (9.50 vs 25.00, p = 0.04). There were no differences in decision regret scores based on initial wants or expectations for those who had surgical repair.

CONCLUSION

Decisional regret following ventral hernia management is associated with patients' expectations prior to initial surgical consultation. The use of a decisional aid did not lower decision regret scores. These findings emphasize the need for upfront expectation setting and longitudinal programs to help patients reach their treatment goals.

Associations of Patient and Parent Characteristics With Parental Decision Regret in the PICU: A Secondary Analysis of the 2015-2017 Navigate Randomized Comparative Trial

OBJECTIVES

To identify self-reported meaningful decisions made by parents in the PICU and to determine patient and parent characteristics associated with the development of parental decision regret, a measurable, self-reported outcome associated with psychologic morbidity.

DESIGN

Secondary analysis of the Navigate randomized comparative trial (NCT02333396).

SETTING

Two tertiary, academic PICUs.

PATIENTS

Spanish- or English-speaking parents of PICU patients aged less than 18 years who were expected to remain in the PICU for greater than 24 hours from time of enrollment or who had a risk of mortality greater than 4% based on Pediatric Index of Mortality 2 score.

INTERVENTIONS

None.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS

Between April 2015 and March 2017, 233 parents of 209 patients completed a survey 3-5 weeks post-PICU discharge which included the Decision Regret Scale (DRS), a 5-item, 5-point Likert scale tool scored from 0 (no regret) to 100 (maximum regret). Two hundred nine patient/parent dyads were analyzed. The decisions parents reported as most important were categorized as: procedure, respiratory support, medical management, parent-staff interactions and communication, symptom management, fluid/electrolytes/nutrition, and no decision. Fifty-one percent of parents had some decision regret (DRS > 0) with 19% scoring in the moderate-severe range (DRS 26-100). The mean DRS score was 12.7 ( sd 18.1). Multivariable analysis showed that parental Hispanic ethnicity was associated with greater odds ratio (OR 3.12 [95% CI, 1.36-7.13]; p = 0.007) of mild regret. Being parents of a patient with an increased PICU length of stay (LOS) or underlying respiratory disease was associated with greater odds of moderate-severe regret (OR 1.03 [95% CI, 1.009-1.049]; p = 0.004 and OR 2.91 [95% CI, 1.22-6.94]; p = 0.02, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

Decision regret was experienced by half of PICU parents in the 2015-2017 Navigate study. The characteristics associated with decision regret (parental ethnicity, PICU LOS, and respiratory disease) are easily identifiable. Further study is needed to understand what contributes to regret in this population and what interventions could provide support and minimize the development of regret.

A systematic review of patient regret after surgery- A common phenomenon in many specialties but rare within gender-affirmation surgery

Regret after gender-affirming surgery (GAS) is a complex issue. Comparing regret after GAS to regret after plastic surgery operations and other major life decisions is a novel approach that can provide insight into the magnitude of this issue. A systematic review of three databases was conducted to investigate regret after common plastic surgery operations. Three separate literature reviews on regret after GAS, regret after elective operations, and regret after major life decisions were performed. A total of 55 articles examining regret after plastic surgery were included. The percentage of patients reporting regret ranged from 0 to 47.1 ​% in breast reconstruction, 5.1-9.1 ​% in breast augmentation, and 10.82-33.3 ​% in body contouring. In other surgical subspecialties, 30 ​% of patients experience regret following prostatectomy and up to 19.5 ​% following bariatric surgery. Rate of regret after GAS is approximately 1 ​%. Other life decisions, such as having children and getting a tattoo have regret rates of 7 ​% and 16.2 ​%, respectively. When comparing regret after GAS to regret after other surgeries and major life decisions, the percentage of patients experiencing regret is extremely low.

Is Preoperative Optimization Right for Every Hernia Patient?: It's Time to Optimize the Optimization Process

This Viewpoint discusses developing a more nuanced preoperative optimization strategy for hernia repair that considers patient and disease factors to determine the right operation for the right patient at the right time.

Variation in approach for midsize (4-6cm) ventral hernias across a statewide quality improvement collaborative

Introduction

Repair of midsize (4-6 cm) ventral hernias is challenging given lack of guidelines. Within this context, we sought to characterize surgical approach among patients undergoing repair of midsize ventral hernias within the only population-level, clinically-nuanced hernia registry in the US.

Methods

Retrospective cohort study of patients undergoing ventral hernia repair in the Michigan Surgical Quality Collaborative Core Optimization Hernia Registry (MSQC-COHR). MSQC-COHR is the only US population-level registry that captures clinically-nuanced data pertaining to patient hernia characteristics. We included patients who underwent repair of a 4-6 cm hernia from January 1, 2020-June 30, 2022. We stratified repair type as open or minimally invasive and used a multivariable logistic regression model to identify factors associated with MIS approach. Secondary outcomes included complications rate.

Results

Among 771 patients, mean hernia width (SD) was 4.7 cm (0.8) and 339 (44 %) underwent MIS approach. Patients with MIS approach had lower BMI (33.5 vs 34.8, p = 0.02) and less often were ASA class III (47.5% vs 54.6 %, p = 0.02) or ASA class IV (2.4% vs 4.2 %, p = 0.02). MIS approach was associated with smaller mean hernia width (4.71 cm vs 4.84 cm, p = 0.02) and was used more often in the elective setting (94.4% vs 84.0 %, p < 0.01). In the multivariable logistic regression model, higher BMI (aOR 0.97, 95 % CI 0.94-0.99) and urgent/emergent surgery (aOR 0.43, 95 % CI 0.24-0.79) were associated with lower odds of MIS. We found no significant association between MIS and risk of complications (aOR 0.62, 95 % CI 0.37-1.04). Among patients undergoing MIS, more than half (n = 236, 69.6 %) had a robotic approach but there were few patient factors associated with this.

Conclusion

Among patients with midsize hernias, few patient-level factors are associated with approach. This may indicate that surgeon preference factors largely into this decision.

Laparoscopic versus Open Inguinal Hernia Repair in Aging Patients: A Propensity Score Matching-Based Retrospective Study

OBJECTIVE

Although laparoscopic repair has been widely carried out and promoted due to its minimally invasive advantages, open surgery is still popular compared to elderly patients. This study aims to compare the outcomes of laparoscopic (LIHR) vs open repair of inguinal hernias (OIHR) in elderly patients.

METHODS

A retrospective analysis of the database was performed to identify elderly patients, from January 2021 through December 2022, who underwent surgery for an inguinal hernia. After a 1:1 propensity score matching (PSM) with a caliper of 0.1 was conducted to balance potential bias, binary logistic regressions were used for categorical and continuous outcomes.

RESULTS

After PSM, 78 pairs of elderly patients were enrolled in this study, and there were no significant differences in baseline between LIHR and OIHR groups. Compared to OIHR, univariable and multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that LIHR was independently affected for reducing intraoperative hemorrhage (OR = 0.06, 95% CI: 0.02-0.18, P < 0.001) and shortening postoperative hospitalization time (OR = 0.29, 95% CI: 0.15-0.57, P < 0.001) in elderly patients. Furthermore, LIHR (OR = 0.28, 95% CI: 0.14-0.57, P < 0.001) and age (OR = 0.89, 95% CI: 0.82-0.96, P = 0.002) were independent affecting factors for relieving postoperative pain. Meanwhile, no obvious differences were detected in postoperative complications [LIHR 7.7% (6/78) vs OIHR 14.1% (11/78), P = 0.199].

CONCLUSION

LIHR was closely associated with reducing intraoperative hemorrhage and shortening postoperative hospitalization time. Whilst LIHR and age were independently affecting factors for relieving postoperative pain.

Postoperative compression in preventing early complications after groin hernia repair

PURPOSE

We conducted this study to investigate the efficacy, safety, and clinical value of postoperative compression in preventing seroma formation, relieving acute pain, and improving QoL after groin hernia repair.

METHODS

This multi-center, prospective, observational real-world study was conducted from March 1, 2022, to August 31, 2022. The study was completed in 53 hospitals in 25 provinces in China. A total of 497 patients who underwent groin hernia repair were enrolled. All patients used a compression device to compress the operative region after surgery. The primary outcome was seroma incidence 1 month after surgery. Secondary outcomes included postoperative acute pain and QoL.

RESULTS

A total of 497 patients [median (IQR) age 55 (41-67) years, 456 (91.8%) male] were enrolled, of whom 454 underwent laparoscopic groin hernia repair and 43 open hernia repair. The follow-up rate was 98.4% 1 month after surgery. Seroma incidence was 7.2% (35 of 489 patients) overall, lower than reported by previous research. No significant differences were found between the two groups (P > 0.05). VAS scores after compression were significantly lower than before compression overall and in both groups (P < 0.001). The laparoscopic group showed a high level of QoL compared with the open group, but there was no significant difference between the two groups (P > 0.05). CCS score correlated positively with VAS score.

CONCLUSION

Postoperative compression, to a certain extent, can reduce seroma incidence, relieve postoperative acute pain, and improve QoL after groin hernia repair. Further large-scale randomized controlled studies are warranted to determine long-term outcomes.