Background Surgical site infections (SSIs) and surgical site occurrences (SSOs) are frequent post-operative complications that are dependent on the presence of different risk factors. The use of closed incision negative pressure therapy (ciNPT) is considered a measure by the WHO guidelines for prevention of SSIs. The prevention of SSOs is an extremely important issue in the ventral hernia repair (VHR) surgical field. SSO onset not only affects the patient's quality of life, but can also cause the onset of life-threatening conditions that may require re-hospitalization, reintervention and often mesh removal. Such outcome can become extremely costly, contributing to increased health care costs for the patient as well as the hospital. This study aims (1) to describe the epidemiological characteristics of SSOs following VHR in our experience; (2) to compare the post-operative outcomes of those who underwent VHR with synthetic mesh when treated with standard wound care (SWC) using gauze dressings vs ciNPT, and finally (3) to perform a spending review of the ciNPT in the hypothesis of its application after VHR with use of synthetic prosthetic material; financial savings including cost-effectiveness were investigated in terms of prevention of wound complications.

Background: Type of axillary surgery in breast cancer (BC) patients who convert from cN þ to ycN0 after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) is still debated. The aim of the present study was to develop and validate a preoperative predictive nomogram to select those patients with a low risk of residual axillary disease after NAC, in whom axillary surgery could be minimized. Patients and methods: 1950 clinically node-positive BC patients from 11 Breast Units, treated by NAC and subsequent surgery, were included from 2005 to 2020. Patients were divided in two groups: those who achieved nodal pCR vs. those with residual nodal disease after NAC. The cohort was divided into training and validation set with a geographic separation criterion. The outcome was to identify independent predictors of axillary pathologic complete response (pCR). Results: Independent predictive factors associated to nodal pCR were axillary clinical complete response (cCR) after NAC (OR 3.11, p < 0.0001), ER-/HER2þ (OR 3.26, p < 0.0001) or ERþ/HER2þ (OR 2.26, p ¼ 0.0002) or ER-/HER2-(OR 1.89, p ¼ 0.009) BC, breast cCR (OR 2.48, p < 0.0001), Ki67 > 14% (OR 0.52, p ¼ 0.0005), and tumor grading G2 (OR 0.35, p ¼ 0.002) or G3 (OR 0.29, p ¼ 0.0003). The nomogram showed a sensitivity of 71% and a specificity of 73% (AUC 0.77, 95%CI 0.75e0.80). After external validation the accuracy of the nomogram was confirmed.

De Garengeot hernia is a rare femoral hernia defined as the presence of the appendix within the femoral hernia sac. The incidence of appendicitis in this type of hernia is a rare condition that accounts for 0.08–0.13% of all De Garengeot hernias. We describe the case of a 61-year-old woman that presented at the emergency department with a tender mass (diameter 10 × 8 cm) in the right groin region for 5 days associated with pain in lower right abdomen and accompanied by fever (38 °C). Computed tomography (CT) of the abdomen revealed the presence of a complex fluid collection with small foci of air in the right inguinal region, measuring 9 × 7 × 10 cm in the 3 orthogonal dimensions and a blind ending tubular structure extending from the caecal base into the groin mass through a narrowed neck defect, medial to the common femoral vessels. The CT scan demonstrated the suspected diagnosis of De Garengeot hernia complicated by acute appendicitis. The intra-operative findings confirmed the diagnosis. The patient was successfully managed operatively. The surgical strategy took into account the need to significantly reduce the diffusion of the infection inside the abdominal cavity. The patient was discharged on the fifth postoperative day without peri-/postoperative complications.

Purpose Hernias severely impact patient quality of life (QoL), and 80% of patients require a surgical operation. Moreover, hernias are responsible for respiratory function alterations. This study aims to investigate the postoperative alterations in respiratory function after open ventral hernia repair in patients with incisional hernia. Methods Patients operated on at the Policlinico “Paolo Giaccone” at Palermo University Hospital between January 2015 and December 2016 were identified in a prospective database. Fifty-one patients were enrolled in the study. The respiratory outcome measures used were forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1), FEV1/FVC ratio, peak expiratory flow (PEF) and PEF percentage (%PEF). The timepoints at which the parameters listed were assessed were t0, 1 week before the surgical operation; t1, 12 months later; and t2, 3 years later. Results The difference between mean preoperative and postoperative PEF was significant [t0 4.32 (4.03–7.92), t1 6.7 (4.27–8.24) with p = 0.012 and t2 6.5 (4.25–8.21) with p = 0.026]. The %PEF increased from 75% preoperatively to 87% at t1 (p = 0.009) and to 85% at t2 (p = 0.03). No differences were found in the comparison of pre- and postoperative FVC, FEV1 or FEV1/FVC ratio. Conclusion The improvement in respiratory measures suggests the importance of abdominal wall restoration to recover functional activity of respiratory function.