Mohammad Salabat, MD, Dennis Leung, MS, Woody Denham, MD, Ari Robicsek, MD, Nancy Schindler, MD, Michael Ujiki, MD. NorthShore University HealthSystem, Chicago, IL
Background: Ventral hernia (VH) rates are higher in patients after abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair. It is thought that the same connective tissue weakness that contributes to AAA may lend itself to similar weaknesses predisposing to ventral hernia. However, it is unknown whether ventral hernia recurrence rates are higher in AAA patients who undergo hernia repair.
Method: Our Institutional Review Board approved study included patients who underwent ventral hernia repair, of whom 54 had a history of AAA (group 1) and 58 without history of AAA (group 2) over the same time period. We retrospectively compared demographic characteristics as well as hernia recurrence rates.
Results: The average age in group 1 and group 2 were 77.6 ± 1.4 vs. 68 ± 1.5 years (p< 0.001), respectively. BMI in group 1 and group 2 was 27.7 ± 0.7 vs. 29.08 ± 0.7kg/m^2 (p=non-significant), respectively. Nearly equal number of patients in both groups were smokers. Laparoscopy was the method of choice in 9.2% (n=5) of the patients in group 1 and 19% (n=11) in group 2 – the remainder were repaired by open approach. In group 1, 16.6% had ventral hernia recurrence while in group 2 it was 8.6% (p<0.05). Ventral hernia size was not significantly different between the two groups. Average follow-up after the first hernia repair in groups 1 and 2 was 37.5 ± 4 and 31 ± 3.8 months, respectively.
Conclusion: Our study shows that ventral hernia recurrence rate is higher in patients with a history of AAA compared to patients without a history of AAA. Further studies are necessary to elucidate whether or not laparoscopic repair with wide underlay may benefit these patients.
Session: Poster
Program Number: P334
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