[Indications for laparoscopic treatment of large incisional hernias]

Hernia surgeons and patients have learned to appreciate the advantages of minimally invasive laparoscopic procedures. After overcoming the early learning curve phase, smaller wound surface areas, shorter operation times and briefer hospital stays have become routine. Severe surgery-related complications are rare. Patients with poor risk profiles (e.g. age >70 years, BMI >30 and nicotine consumption) profit especially from these advantages. This positive picture is clouded, however, by the need for an intraperitoneal mesh and specifically by the unchanged recurrence rate. The latter is not significantly lowered even by laparoscopic intraperitoneal on-lay mesh (laparoscopic IPOM) procedures. The current literature shows that irrespective of surgical technique, e.g. retromuscular mesh or laparoscopic IPOM, the risk profile and size of the hernia defect are independent factors that determine the prognosis for recurrence. While a cure of incisional hernia is no longer the only goal, the new indication scenario has two main goals: (a) for young patients at low risk or in patients for whom functional and morphological reconstruction of the abdominal wall are of primary importance, an open retromuscular mesh procedure is indicated (despite the higher morbidity) and (b) for older patients and chiefly for patients with a complex risk profile for whom treatment of the ventral hernia symptoms is paramount, laparoscopic procedures are indicated (due to the lower morbidity). This algorithm assumes that the treating surgeons have the requisite expertise and is discussed using the examples of four complex case reports.