The laparoscopic ventral and incisional hernia repair

We retrospectively reviewed the first twenty laparoscopic ventral and incisional hernia repairs performed at the 2nd Department of Surgery, St. Anne's Teaching Hospital, Brno from March 2003 till April 2004. Laparoscopic repairs were performed using Biomesh mesh (Cousin Biotech, France) with a minimum of 3 cm overlap circumferentially with normal fascia and secured with spiraltacks every 3-4 cm and transparietal sutures. All adhesions on the parietal defect are released, using scissors, and whenever possible we attempted to reduce the hernia sac. The mean follow-up period was 7 months with a range of 2 to 13 months. There was no recurrence in the group. There were two hematomas and one seroma in our group, which disappeared without treatment. Two patients experienced transient pain, which was resolved by analgesic treatment over time. By this date, no chronic infection, bowel obstruction, or enterocutaneous fistula have been reported. In conclusion our results are encouraging and suggest that laparoscopic ventral and incisional hernia repair is a safe, feasible, and effective alternative to open techniques. (Ref. 10.)