High rate of incisional hernia observed after mass closure of burst abdomen

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Purpose: This study investigated the long-term development of incisional hernia after implementation of a standardized surgical treatment strategy for burst abdomen in abdominal midline incisions with a continuous mass closure technique. Methods: The study was a single-center, observational study evaluating all patients treated for burst abdomen between June 2014 and April 2019 with a long-term follow-up in October 2020. In June 2014, a standardized surgical treatment for burst abdomen involving a monofilament, slowly absorbable suture in a continuous mass-closure stitch with large bites of 3 cm and small steps of 5 mm was introduced. The occurrence of incisional hernia was investigated and defined as a radiological-, clinical-, or intraoperative finding of a hernia in the abdominal midline incision at follow-up. Results: Ninety-four patients suffered from burst abdomen during the study period. Eighty patients were eligible for follow-up. The index surgery prior to burst abdomen was an emergency laparotomy in 78% (62/80) of the patients. Nineteen patients died within the first 30 postoperative days and 61 patients were available for further analysis. The long-term incisional hernia rate was 33% (20/61) with a median follow-up of 17 months (min 4, max 67 months). Conclusion: Standardized surgery for burst abdomen with a mass-closure technique using slow absorbable running suture results in high rates of long-term incisional hernias, comparable to the hernia rates reported in the literature among this group of patients.

Original languageEnglish
JournalHernia
Volume26
Pages (from-to)1267–1274
ISSN1265-4906
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag France SAS, part of Springer Nature.

    Research areas

  • Abdomen burst, Incisional hernia, Laparotomy, Long-term risk, Mass closure, Midline incision

ID: 302071246