Comparative Analysis between Laparoscopic and Open IPOM Ventral Hernioplasty

Abstract

Introduction: In everyday surgical practice, ventral hernia repair is one of the most commonly performed surgeries worldwide. Ventral hernioplasty can be performed either with open or laparoscopic approach and in this study both approaches use the IPOM technique of mesh placement. From the clinical experience so far, the laparoscopic approach is characterized by a lower rate of early postoperative complications, shorter hospital stay and a period of convalescence. The aim of the study was to compare early postoperative complications, duration of surgery, hospital stay, recurrence in the first year and convalescence period between patients undergoing open and laparoscopic access with IPOM ventral hernioplasty. Material and methods: The study was designed as a randomized, prospective, comparative study of 63 patients who met the inclusion criteria, operated by IPOM technique and divided into two groups: open access to 32 patients and laparoscopic access to 31 patients. Early postoperative complications, duration of surgery, hospital stay, recurrence in the first year, and convalescence were compared in both groups. Statistical processing and data analysis was performed in the statistical programme SPSS version 23.0. Values of p <0.05 were taken as statistically significant. Results: Regarding the early postoperative complications, it was found that the occurrence of seroma is more common in the laparoscopic group (p = 0.013), while in open hernioplasty the number of surgical site infections is significantly higher (p = 0.03). The hospital stay expressed in days is longer in open hernioplasty (p = 000001). Regarding the duration of the operation (p = 0.8) and the period of convalescence (p = 0.28), there is no statistically significant difference between the two groups. Discussion: The results shown by our experience shows that laparoscopic ventral IPOM hernia repair is characterized by lower rates of SSI, a shorter hospital stay, but without statistical significant benefit in terms of a period of convalescence, duration of surgery and recidive rate in the first year. Тhe choice of treatment and access should be based according to individual patient characteristics. A laparoscopic approach, due to its minimal invasiveness, should be more common in ventral hernioplasty.