Time Savings and Surgery Task Load Reduction in Open Intraperitoneal Onlay Mesh Fixation Procedure

Area of Science:

• General Surgery
• Surgical Innovation
• Hernia Repair Techniques

Background:

• Open ventral hernia repair often involves prolonged procedure times.
• Traditional suture fixation for intraperitoneal onlay mesh (IPOM) can contribute to surgeon stress.
• Assessing methods to reduce surgeon stress and improve efficiency is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of mechanical fixation versus suture fixation on surgeon stress.
• To quantify the reduction in procedure time using mechanical fixation for IPOM.
• To compare surgeon stress levels between mechanical and suture fixation methods in open ventral hernia repair.

Main Methods:

• Nine surgeons performed 36 open IPOM fixation procedures in a porcine model.
• Each surgeon completed both mechanical (ETHICON SECURESTRAP™ Open) and suture fixation procedures.
• Procedure time was recorded, and surgeon stress was measured using the SURG-TLX questionnaire.

Main Results:

• Mechanical fixation reduced fixation time by 89.1% compared to suture fixation (p < 0.00001).
• Surgeon stress scores were 55.5% lower with mechanical fixation (p < 0.001).
• Five of six measured stress sources were significantly lower in the mechanical fixation group.

Conclusions:

• Mechanical fixation with ETHICON SECURESTRAP™ Open significantly decreases fixation time and surgeon stress.
• This method offers potential for improved surgical efficiency and operating room performance.
• Reduced surgeon stress may lead to enhanced quality of life and lower procedural costs.