Outcomes of open intraperitoneal incisional hernia repair based on patient-reported outcomes

The outcomes of open incisional hernia repair from the patients' point of view have variations over time, and only continuous follow-up would reflect the real outcomes. The purpose of this study is to validate a standard measurement instrument in the form of a questionnaire to report the evolutionary outcomes of a specific open technique to repair incisional hernias.

Prospective study follows up a cohort of 82 consecutive patients submitted to elective intraperitoneal open hernioplasty of midline incisional hernias. The follow-up consisted in an interview and physical examination 30 days after surgery, at 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, 3 years, and 4 years. Primary outcome measure was reporting the outcomes of hernia repair according to a standardized scale obtained from a questionnaire.

There was no correlation between complications suffered by patients and score results (p = 0.722). The length of hospital stay was 6.5 ± 4.3 days, and a prolonged hospital stay was related to complications (p = 0.002) and did not influence the score results (p = 0.365). The final score demonstrated that patients had a very good impression on this procedure 1 month after surgery (p = 0.003). This impression shifted to an excellent perception 1 year after surgery remaining similar until the last control (p < 0.0001).

In this series, the intraperitoneal hernioplasty was a procedure associated with minor morbidity and without recurrences 4 years after the operation. The outcomes from the patients' point of view were excellent 1 year after the procedure with a tendency to improve in the long term.