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Updated: Oct 11, 2025
Application of a New Mesh Fixation Method in Laparoscopic Incisional Hernia Repair
Published on: December 23, 2022
The Effect of an Abdominal Binder on Postoperative Pain After Laparoscopic Incisional Hernia Repair–A Multicenter,
Christoph Paasch1, Gianluca De Santo, Nouf Aljedani
1Department of General, Abdominal, Vascular, and Transplant Surgery, Magdeburg University Hospital; Center for Obesity and Metabolic Surgery, Helios Hospital Berlin-Buch; Department of General, Visceral, and Cancer Surgery, Helios Hospital Berlin-Buch; Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University, School of Medicine, Stanford, USA; Department of Surgery, Oberhavel Hospital Oranienburg.
Background:
Incisional hernias with apertures measuring less than 7 cm can generally be treated adequately with the laparoscopic intraperitoneal onlay-mesh (IPOM) technique. The wearing of an abdominal binder after surgery is often recommended in order to promote wound healing and prevent recurrent herniation. We carried out a multicenter, randomized pilot trial to evaluate the utility of abdominal binders.
Methods:
The trial was conducted from May 2019 to December 2020. Persons with a laparoscopic IPOM procedure for treatment of an incisional hernia were included in the trial and randomized preoperatively (1:1). The patients in the abdominal binder group wore an abdominal binder during the day for 14 days after surgery, while those in the control group wore no binder. The primary endpoint was pain at rest on postoperative days 1, 2, and 14, as measured on a visual analog scale. The secondary endpoints were overall subjective well-being, the rates of wound infection, recurrence, and complications, mobility, and the rate and size of postoperative seromas (on postoperative days 1, 2, and 14).
Results:
Forty patients were included. Three were excluded because of conversion to an open surgical technique. The biometric and perioperative data of the abdominal binder group (n = 18) and the control group (n = 19) did not differ to any statistically significant extent. The patients in the binder group had significantly less postoperative pain (F [dfn, dfd]) 4.44, 95% confidence interval [1; 35]; p = 0.042).The patients in the binder group also had better overall subjective well-being and a higher rate of postoperative seroma formation, but these differences did not reach statistical significance. There was less limitation of mobility than in the control group; however, this difference also did not attain statistical significance.
Conclusion:
An abdominal binder may reduce pain after incisional hernia repair with the IPOM technique. The postoperative use of analgesic medication was not measured.
