Fascia lata onlay patch for repairing infected incisional hernias

Abdominal incisional hernias represent the most common wound complication after abdominal surgery and infected abdominal incisional hernias are difficult to manage. We describe a simple, safe and effective method of using a free fascia lata patch to repair a large infected incisional hernia. This procedure involves the following steps: incising the skin and subcutaneous tissue and identifying the edges of the hernia defect; incising each anterior rectus sheath and completely suturing the medial edges of the fascia with 0 polypropylene; creating a fascia lata patch; and overlapping the defect in the anterior rectus fascia with the fascia lata patch as an onlay graft to reinforce the fascial closure. Five patients with infected hernias underwent this procedure, and all postoperative outcomes were satisfactory.