FRIDAY, March 22 (HealthDay News) -- Laparoscopic incisional hernia repair has recurrence rates comparable with open repair, according to a study published in the March issue of JAMA Surgery.
Hasan H. Eker, M.D., from the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and colleagues randomized 206 patients with an incisional hernia (between 3 and 15 cm) from 10 hospitals to either laparoscopic or open mesh repair.
The researchers found that in the laparoscopic group, patients had significantly less median blood loss (10 mL versus 50 mL) and received significantly fewer wound drains (3 percent of patients versus 45 percent). Laparoscopic operative time was significantly longer (100 versus 76 minutes) and resulted in significantly higher perioperative complications (9 versus 2 percent). There were no significant differences between the groups with respect to visual analog scale scores for pain and nausea before surgery and postoperatively. A recurrence rate of 14 percent in the open group versus 18 percent in the laparoscopic group was seen at 35 months of follow-up (P = 0.30). Recurrence was significantly predicted by the size of the defect.
"Based on this large randomized clinical trial, laparoscopic incisional hernia repair is an effective technique with recurrence rates comparable with open repair," the authors write.
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