Minimally Invasive Surgery Benefits Frail Patients Undergoing Emergency Hernia Repairs

Compared to elective surgery, emergent hernia repairs carry higher morbidity. Additionally, frailty is independently associated with worse postoperative outcomes. This study aimed to assess if the surgical approach, minimally invasive surgery versus open, confers improved outcomes for frail patients who underwent emergent hernia repairs.

The National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database (2018-2020) was queried for patients who underwent emergency hernia repair by Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes (49505-49659). A modified frailty index-5 score was calculated; only frail patients with a score of ≥2 were included. The impact of surgical approach on length of stay, discharge destination, and mortality was determined by multivariate analysis.

A total of 1,893 patients met the inclusion criteria. Most patients (56.5%) were female, and 61.4% of patients were age ≥65. Most patients (83.62%) underwent open repair. After adjusting for covariates, patients who underwent minimally invasive surgery had a shorter length of stay compared to open surgery (hazard ratio = 1.22; 95% confidence interval [1.06,1.41]; P = .006). Surgical approach was not associated with a difference in 30-day mortality (P =.28) or discharge destination (P = .97).

Minimally invasive emergent hernia repairs in frail patients in the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database cohort are associated with a shorter length of stay compared to open surgery, without increased 30-day mortality or change in discharge destination. Prospective studies are needed to validate best-practices in treating frail surgical patients.