Laparoscopic repair of paraesophageal hernias: a Canadian experience

The surgical approach to paraesophageal hernias (PEH) has changed with the advent of laparoscopic techniques. Variation in both perioperative outcomes and hernia recurrence rates are reported in the literature. We sought to evaluate the short- and intermediate-term outcomes with laparoscopic PEH repair.

We performed a retrospective review of patients having laparoscopic repair of PEH between June 1998 and September 2002. We included patients with more than 120 days of follow-up.

A total of 58 patients with a mean age of 60.4 (standard deviation [SD] 15.0) years had a laparoscopic procedure to repair a primary PEH, as well as adequate follow-up, during the study period. The types of PEH included type II (n = 13), III (n = 44) and IV (n = 1). The most common symptoms were epigastric pain (57%), dysphagia (40%), heartburn (31%) and vomiting (28%). Associated procedures included 56 (96%) Nissen fundoplications and 2 (4%) gastropexies. We closed all crural defects either with or without pledgets, and 2 patients required the use of mesh. There was 1 conversion to open surgery owing to intraoperative bleeding secondary to a consumptive coagulopathy; we observed no other major intraoperative emergencies. Minor or major complications occurred in 15 patients (26%). Late postoperative complications included 1 umbilical hernia. The mean length of stay in hospital was 3.8 (SD 2.5) days. After surgery, 19 patients were completely asymptomatic, and the majority of the remaining patients (83%) described marked symptom improvement. Upper gastrointestinal series performed in symptomatic patients in the postoperative setting identified 5 recurrent paraesophageal hernias (8.6%) and 5 small sliding hernias (9%).

Laparoscopic repair of PEH is associated with improved long-term symptom relief, low morbidity and acceptable recurrence rates when performed in an experienced centre.