Evaluating the impact of lifting mandatory smoking cessation prior to elective abdominal wall reconstruction. A single-center experience

The impact of smoking on ventral and inguinal hernia repair: a systematic review and meta-analysis

PURPOSE

Individual studies indicate poorer outcomes for smokers after hernia repair. Previous meta-analyses have examined the impact of smoking on specific outcomes such as recurrence and surgical site infection, but there has been a lack of comprehensive consensus or systematic review on this subject. Addressing this gap, our study undertakes a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the impact of smoking on the outcomes of ventral hernia repair (VHR) and inguinal hernia repair.

SOURCE

A thorough search of Cochrane Central, Scopus, SciELO, and PubMed/MEDLINE, focusing on studies that examined the effect of smoking on inguinal and VHR outcomes was conducted. Key outcomes evaluated included recurrence, reoperation, surgical site occurrences (SSO), surgical site infection (SSI), and seroma.

PRINCIPAL FINDINGS

Out of 3296 screened studies, 42 met the inclusion criteria. These comprised 25 studies (69,295 patients) on VHR and 17 studies (204,337 patients) on inguinal hernia repair. The analysis revealed that smokers had significantly higher rates of recurrence (10.4% vs. 9.1%; RR 1.48; 95% CI [1.15; 1.90]; P < 0.01), SSO (13.6% vs. 12.7%; RR 1.44; 95% CI [1.12; 1.86]; P < 0.01) and SSI (6.6% vs. 4.2%; RR 1.64; 95% CI [1.38; 1.94]; P < 0.01) following VHR. Additionally, smokers undergoing inguinal hernia repair showed higher recurrence (9% vs. 8.7%; RR 1.91; 95% CI [1.21; 3.01]; P < 0.01), SSI (0.6% vs. 0.3%; RR 1.6; 95% CI [1.21; 2.0]; P < 0.001), and chronic pain (9.9% vs. 10%; RR 1.24; 95% CI [1.06; 1.45]; P < 0.01) rates. No significant differences were observed in seroma (RR 2.63; 95% CI [0.88; 7.91]; P = 0.084) and reoperation rates (RR 1.48; 95% CI [0.77; 2.85]; P = 0.236) for VHR, and in reoperation rates (RR 0.99; 95% CI [0.51; 1.91]; P = 0.978) for inguinal hernias between smokers and non-smokers. Analysis using funnel plots and Egger's test showed the absence of publication bias in the study outcomes.

CONCLUSION

This comprehensive meta-analysis found statistically significant increases in recurrence rates, and immediate postoperative complications, such as SSO and SSI following inguinal and VHR. Also, our subgroup analysis suggests that the MIS approach seems to be protective of adverse outcomes in the smokers group. However, our findings suggest that these findings are not of clinical relevance, so our data do not support the necessity of smoking cessation before hernia surgery. More studies are needed to elucidate the specific consequences of smoking in both inguinal and ventral hernia repair.

PROSPERO REGISTRATION

ID CRD42024517640.

Consensus in ERAS protocols for ventral hernia repair: evidence-based recommendations from the ACHQC QI Committee

PURPOSE

Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocols are widely used in the post-operative care of hernia patients. Despite their prevalence, an absence of published consensus guidelines creates significant heterogeneity in practices. The aim of this study was to evaluate elements in ERAS protocols utilized in ventral hernia repair from institutions across the United States and provide consensus recommendations for each identified element.

METHODS

Institutional members of the Abdominal Core Health Quality Collaborative (ACHQC) Quality Improvement (QI) committee submitted current ERAS protocols. Items within each protocol were classified as "elements", then assigned a topic. Any topic with ≥ 2 elements from separate institutions were labeled as a "theme," then grouped by stage in the patient care cycle. A brief review of current evidence was provided in addition to a ACHQC QI committee consensus statement.

RESULTS

A total of 295 elements from 6 tertiary referral centers specializing in hernia care were compiled into 24 themes and grouped by four separate stages: Pre-Admission Optimization, Pre-Operative Care, Intra-operative Care, and Post-Operative Management.

CONCLUSION

This article represents a multi-institutional review of ERAS protocols for ventral hernia repair and identifies common themes that may provide the framework for a unified ERAS protocol in hernia surgery. Future work may serve to develop societal guidelines defined specifically for enhanced recovery in ventral hernia repair.

Outcomes of posterior sheath supplementation with Vicryl mesh in TAR-a single-center study

INTRODUCTION

In the Transversus Abdominis Release (TAR) procedure, ideally, the posterior sheath is completely reapproximated to establish an interface isolating the polypropylene mesh from visceral contents. When primary closure of the posterior sheath is unachievable, Vicryl mesh is commonly used to supplement the posterior sheath closure and an uncoated polypropylene mesh is placed superficial to the Vicryl mesh. The long-term implications of utilizing Vicryl mesh as an antiadhesive barrier are poorly understood. In this study, we aimed to assess our outcomes when utilizing Vicryl mesh to supplement the posterior sheath defects when placed underneath polypropylene mesh in patients undergoing posterior component separation.

METHODS

Adult patients who underwent VHR with concurrent TAR procedure with a permanent synthetic mesh and posterior sheath supplementation with Vicryl mesh in the Cleveland Clinic Center for Abdominal Core Health between January 2014 and December 2022 were queried retrospectively from a prospectively collected database in the Abdominal Core Health Quality Collaborative. We evaluated 30-day wound morbidity, perioperative complications, long-term mesh-related complications, and pragmatic hernia recurrence.

RESULTS

53 patients who underwent TAR procedure with posterior sheath supplementation using Vicryl mesh and had a minimum 12-month follow-up were identified. Of the 53 patients, 94.3% presented with recurrent hernias, 73.6% had a midline hernia, 7.5% had a flank hernia, and 18.9% had concurrent parastomal hernia. The mean hernia width was 24.9 cm (± 8.8 cm). No Vicryl mesh-related operative complications were identified in our study, with no instances of mesh erosion, fistulas, or interventions for small bowel obstruction. Skin necrosis requiring reoperations was observed in three patients (5.7%), leading to permanent mesh excision in two cases (3.8%) without intraabdominal visceral involvement. Throughout the 12-month follow-up, 23 incidences (43.4%) of surgical site occurrences (SSOs) and surgical site occurrences requiring procedural intervention (SSOPI) were documented.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings suggest that posterior sheath supplementation with Vicryl mesh is a feasible approach to achieve posterior sheath closure in challenging abdominal wall reconstruction cases. Given the absence of notable mesh-related complications and a similar hernia recurrence rate to cases without posterior sheath supplementation, Vicryl mesh can be used to safely achieve posterior sheath closure in complex reconstructions with insufficient native tissue.

Preoperative optimization in hernia surgery: are we really helping or are we just stalling?

BACKGROUND

Managing patients with abdominal wall hernias and multiple comorbidities can be challenging because these patients are at increased risk for postoperative complications. Preoperative optimization has been used to identify and intervene upon modifiable risk factors to improve hernia repair outcomes, however, waiting to achieve optimization may cause unnecessary delays.

METHODS

We describe our approach to preoperative optimization in hernia and we review the current evidence for preoperative optimization.

CONCLUSION

Modifying risk factors before undergoing elective hernia repair can improve the overall health of patients with multiple comorbidities. However, when considering the hernia-specific data, prolonging waiting times for patients to achieve full optimization is not justified. Surgeons should take a nuanced approach to balance achieving patient optimization without unnecessarily delaying surgical care.