Emergency laparoscopic treatment of complicated parastomal hernias

Parastomal hernia is not a rare event. Being by definition a complication of ostomy creation, a parastomal hernia also carries the risk of becoming symptomatic and complicated. At present, there are not enough solid data in literature to allow an evidence-based approach to this condition and to its possible complications, especially in the emergency setting. The aim of this paper is to describe through a narrative review of the literature the different surgical approaches concerning parastomal hernias. In order to exemplify the emergency complications we also present two cases in which the watchful waiting approach eventually led to the necessity of urgent surgical treatment, due to bowel incarceration into the parastomal hernia. We chose to tailor the surgical plan on the patient's anatomic and clinical condition, pursuing the laparoscopic approach with two different surgical technique (Sugarbaker and keyhole), each time estimated by the operating surgeon to be the more suitable option for the patient. We acknowledge that laparoscopy can be an optimal choice for the emergency and elective treatment of parastomal hernias, whenever an appropriate know-how is present.