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Annals of Surgical Innovation and
Research
Open Access
Case study
Emergency treatment of complicated incisional hernias: a case
study
Francesco La Mura*, Roberto Cirocchi, Eriberto Farinella, Umberto Morelli,
Vincenzo Napolitano, Lorenzo Cattorini, Alessandro Spizzirri,
Barbara Rossetti, Pamela Delmonaco, Carla Migliaccio, Diego Milani,
Piero Covarelli, Carlo Boselli, Giuseppe Noya and Francesco Sciannameo
Address: General Surgical Unit, St. Maria Hospital, Terni (TR), University of Perugia, Italy
Email: Francesco La Mura* - doctorfrank81@hotmail.it; Roberto Cirocchi - cirocchiroberto@yahoo.fr;
Eriberto Farinella - eriberto.far@gmail.com; Umberto Morelli - umorelli@libero.it; Vincenzo Napolitano - e_napolitano@libero.it;
Lorenzo Cattorini - Cremesys@excite.it; Alessandro Spizzirri - aspizzirri@yahoo.it; Barbara Rossetti - babyross@yahoo.it;
Pamela Delmonaco - pamela.delmonaco@alice.it; Carla Migliaccio - carlamigliaccio@gmail.com; Diego Milani - diegomilani@yahoo.it;
Piero Covarelli - piero.covarelli@med.unipg.it; Carlo Boselli - carloboselli@yahoo.it; Giuseppe Noya - gnoya@unipg.it;
Francesco Sciannameo - francescosciannameo@unipg.it
* Corresponding author
Abstract
Background: The emergency treatment of incisional hernias is infrequent but it can be
complicated with strangulation or obstruction and in some cases the surgical approach may also
include an intestinal resection with the possibility of peritoneal contamination. Our study aims at
reporting our experience in the emergency treatment of complicated incisional hernias.
Methods: Since January 1999 till July 2008, 89 patients (55 males and 34 females) were treated for
complicated incisional hernias in emergency. The patients were divided in two groups: Group I
consisting of 33 patients that were treated with prosthesis apposition and Group II, consisting of
56 patients that were treated by performing a direct abdominal wall muscles suture.
Results: All the patients underwent a 6-month follow up; we noticed 9 recurrences (9/56, 16%) in
the patients treated with direct abdominal wall muscles suture and 1 recurrence (1/33, 3%) in the
group of patients treated with the prosthesis apposition.
Conclusions: According to our experience, the emergency treatment of complicated incisional
hernias through prosthesis apposition is always feasible and ensures less post-operative
complications (16% vs 21,2%) and recurrences (3% vs 16%) compared to the patients treated with
direct muscular suture.
Background
Repair of abdominal wall hernia represents the most com-
mon group of operatios performed by general surgeons all
around the world. Incisional hernia is a serious complica-
tion after abdominal surgery which occurs in 11-23% of
laparotomies [1].
Published: 17 December 2009
Annals of Surgical Innovation and Research 2009, 3:15 doi:10.1186/1750-1164-3-15
Received: 3 January 2009
Accepted: 17 December 2009
This article is available from: http://www.asir-journal.com/content/3/1/15
2009 La Mura et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0),
which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Annals of Surgical Innovation and Research 2009, 3:15 http://www.asir-journal.com/content/3/1/15
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In 2003 it was estimated that over 100,000 ventral inci-
sional hernia repairs were performed in the US. Risk fac-
tors for incisional hernia formation and preventive
strategies are not clearly defined, but according to data
from literature, significant demographic factors influenc-
ing incisional hernia incidence are age (> 45 years) and
male gender. Preoperative anaemia (Hb < 100 g/l) and
BMI > 25, associated with previous laparotomies and
postoperative catecholamin-therapy also seem to play an
important role [2]. The tension-free repair is one of the
key concepts in hernia surgery. The use of a mesh prosthe-
sis decreases the recurrence rates, particularly for inguinal
and incisional hernias. Recently, the laparoscopic
approach extended the options and approaches for repair-
ing the fascial defect.
The emergency treatment of incisional hernias is not fre-
quent [3], and its technical approach can be different from
the elective one, both for the septic conditions in which
the emergency treatment is usually performed and for the
patients' age which can lead to several technical difficul-
ties. As an emergency, it often occurs in elderly patients
with voluminous hernias complicated with strangulation
or obstruction [4]. In some of these cases the surgical
approach may also include an intestinal resection, with
the possibility of peritoneal contamination [5]. This study
aims at reporting our experience in the emergency treat-
ment of complicated incisional hernias, analysing the
results obtained with the employment of synthetic pros-
thesis versus the open surgical repair.
Materials and methods
We performed a clinical study by revising clinical notes,
through which we evaluated the different treatments of
patients with complicated incisional hernias. All the
patients whose hernia were only an attendant pathology
and did not represent itself the cause for an emergency
surgical treatment, were excluded fom the trial.
Since January 2001 till July 2008, 89 patients (55 males
and 34 females) were treated for complicated incisional
hernias in emergency. We divided the patients in two dif-
ferent groups. The patients treated with prosthesis apposi-
tion (Group I) were 33 (24 males and 9 females) while 56
patients (Group II) (31 males and 25 females) were
treated by performing a direct abdominal wall muscles
suture. Five of these patients (8,9%) had such voluminous
incisional hernias that they could not be treated by carry-
ing out a direct abdominal wall muscles suture (Table 1).
Results
As concerns the group treated with the apposition of pros-
thesis (Group I), obstruction with no possibility of reduc-
tion occurred in 27 cases; in these cases we performed an
adhesiolisis and a greater omentum resection (14
patients) which eased the abdominal replacement of the
ileal ansae, being the omentum often inflamed, thickened
and fibrous. In the remaining 6 cases, strangulation was
the reason for an emergency treatment; in these cases we
performed a resection of the necrotic ileum and the intes-
tinal continuity was restored by carrying out a mechanic
suture. Strangulation occurred in those patients whose
incisional hernias had a narrow neck. We registered 7
complications; 4 parcellar cutaneous necrosis, 2 hemato-
mas and 1 wound suppuration (Table 2).
The surgical technique performed for Group I patients,
was carried out through the apposition of polypropylene
prosthesis which was placed between the posterior rectus
wall and the anterior wall of the rectus sheath. The pros-
thesis was fixed by non-absorbable interrupted stitches
which were sequentially placed through the aponeurosis,
the prosthetis, back into the prosthetis and finally again
through the aponeurosis, approximately 0.5 cm by the
entrance point. The suture must be performed at least 2
cm far from the hernia edge, in a totally sane tissue. On
the contrary the patients with voluminous incisional her-
nias were treated with a PTFE mesh (polytetrafluoroethyl-
ene) which was placed intraperitoneally, in contact with
the abdominal viscera. The employment of PTFE allows
the reduction of viscero-parietal adhesions and the consti-
tution of a stronger abdominal wall.
In the patients treated with a direct abdominal wall mus-
cles suture (Group II) we carried out an adhesiolysis and
a greater omentum resection in 41 patients. In 15 cases we
performed a resection of the necrotic ileum followed by a
mechanic suture. We registered 24 complications; 7 par-
Table 1: Emergency treatment of complicated incisional hernias
Prosthesis apposition
(Group I)
Direct abdominal wall muscles suture
(Group II)
Patients treated 33 56
Omentum resections 14 41
Intestinal resections 6 15
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cellar cutaneous necrosis, 6 hematomas and 11 wound
suppurations (Table 2).
All the patients underwent a 6-month follow up; we
noticed 9 recurrences (9/56, 16%) in the patients treated
with direct abdominal wall muscles suture and 1 recur-
rence (1/33, 3%) in the group of patients treated with the
prostesis apposition (Table 3).
Discussion
Incisional hernias can range in size from very small to
large and complex ones and appear as a bulge by the area
of a previous surgical scar. Nearly any prior abdominal
operation can develop an incisional hernia, however the
most frequent site is along incisions running down from
the breastbone to the pubic area. These hernias may occur
after large surgeries such as intestinal or vascular surgery,
but also after an appendectomy or even through the small
scar of a laparoscopy wound. Surgical repair of incisional
hernias is usually recommended, as they can become a
medical or surgical emergency.
An incisional hernia can be defined as complicated when
the involved structures undergo worsening conditions.
Particularly, the concerned structures may be described as
follows:
1) Cutaneous: large and thin scars, cutaneous atrophy
and eczemas, suppurative flogosis, fistulae.
2) Hernial sac: multiple sacs, fibrous septa, sac thick-
ening and adhesions.
3) Visceral: chronic incarceration, obstruction, stran-
gulation, ileum and colonic torsion with progressive
damage up to gangrene; greater omentum involve-
ment, mesenteritis and perivisceritis.
The frequency of complicated incisional hernias varies
from 10 to 40%. The most frequent complications are
incarceration, obstruction and strangulation [6].
There are two main factors for the pathogeneses of these
complications: the hernial orifice rigidity and the presence
of tenacious adhesions between the hernial sac and its
content or between the sac and the surrounding tissues.
The formation of viscero-visceral and viscero-parietal bri-
dles is the necessary condition for the production of stran-
gulation: the intestinal loop contained into the sac is
firstly affected by a transit alteration and later on by circu-
latory disturbance.
The strangulated intestinal tract rapidly goes towards con-
gestion, edema and turgor caused by a disturbance of
venous circulation which is followed by the formation of
trasudate into the intestinal loop entrapped into the her-
nial sac; the intestinal wall goes towards progressive mod-
ifications up to necrosis and perforation. The omentum
can be involved in the strangulation process; in such case
the affected part adheres to the hernial sac and turns into
a fibrous tissue. In case of strangulation, the symptoms
will be those of a typical intestinal occlusion or subocclu-
sion, depending on the elapsed time and the single mate-
rial cause, although the synthomatology can sometimes
be hard to define; for instance, in obese abdomens it is not
easy to recognize the strangulation of small laparoceles.
The emergency surgical treatment for complicated inci-
sional hernias, besides the problems given by the lack of
Table 2: Complications
Prosthesis apposition
(Group I)
Direct abdominal wall muscles suture
(Group II)
Total complications 7 (21%) 24 (43%)
Parcellar cutaneous necrosis 4 (57%) 7 (29%)
Hematomas 2 (29%) 6 (25%)
Wound suppuration 1 (14%) 11 (46%)
Table 3: Recurrences
Prosthesis apposition
(Group I)
Direct abdominal wall muscles suture
(Group II)
Recurrences 1 (3%) 9 (16%)
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intestinal preparation, shows a higher morbidity also due
to the development of an acute respiratory failure; this is
caused by the abdominal reduction of the herniated vis-
cera which causes an increase of endoabdominal pressure
pushing up the diaphragm [7].
Since the newly formed subcutaneous cavity resulting
from the hernia reduction can be origin of haematic col-
lections formation associated with a frequent necrosis of
the cutaneous rims, we suggest to perform a cutaneous
and subcutaneous resection in order to avoid both com-
plications. Furthermore in all the patients we normally
place one or two subcutaneous Jackson-Pratt suction
drainages.
At the moment the most frequent treatment of volumi-
nous incisional hernias is performed through the use of
synthetic prosthesis, which allows the abdominal wall
reconstruction according to the "tension free" technique.
The prosthesis is to be placed between the peritoneum
and the posterior surface of the rectus abdominis muscles
[8,9] or between the posterior surface of the rectus
abdominis muscles and their posterior sheath [10]. In
both cases the prosthesis apposition allows a strength dis-
charge upon the abdominal wall circumference; moreo-
ver, the overlap of the muscle to the prosthesis
(properitoneal technique) allows a wider distribution sur-
face of tension strengths. In order to avoid a prosthesis
dislocation, it is necessary to fix it to the abdominal wall
by non-absorbable interrupted stitches (prolene). The
prosthesis must be considerably wider than the parietal
breach, so that the endoabdominal pressure might ease its
adhesion to the abdominal wall. The anterior rectus mus-
cles sheath is closed by a continuous non-absorbable
suture. When it is not possible to suture the abdominal
wall because of a massive tissutal loss, we place a PTFE
prosthesis in contact with the viscera and we suture it to
the muscle sheaths [11,12]. PTFE avoids visceral adhe-
sions, assuring this material to be used in properitoneal
locations for voluminous incisional hernias when it is not
possible to perform a direct peritoneal suture; it also low-
ers the infections incidence and causes only a weak for-
eign body reaction [13-19] (Appendix 1).
The described techniques performed in emergency do not
show a higher incidence of complications (fistulisation,
hematomas and wound dehiscence) compared to elective
surgery [20,21]; also according to our experience, the
emergency treatment of complicated incisional hernias
appears to be feasible, both in terms of post-operative
complications and recurrences.
Conclusions
According to our experience, the emergency treatment of
complicated incisional hernias through prosthesis apposi-
tion is always feasible and ensures less post-operative
complications (21% vs 43%) and recurrences (3% vs
16%) compared to the patients treated with direct muscu-
lar suture.
The technical approach in emergency is correct when con-
sidering the clinical conditions of the patient, the size of
the hernia and each eventual complication; such a dealing
will minimize the complication rate and make it compa-
rable to the one achieved with elective practice. Further-
more, synthetic prosthesis allows defects of any size to be
repaired without tension and with a lower recurrence rate,
providing an added support to the weak abdominal wall.
Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Consent section
All the patients were informed that their clinical history
would be used for a study. All of them signed a personal
data treatment consent. No image was used.
Authors' contributions
FL cooperated in writing the article and translated it into
English
RC drafted the article
EF checked the numbers and percentages
UM updated the references
VN made the tables
LC formatted the article
AS searched for the references
BR collected patients' data
PD chose the most useful and interesting articles in litera-
ture about the field
CM searched for the references
DM collected the patients' consent
PC gave some language suggestions
CB formatted the references
GN supervised the article production
FS allowed the collection of the patients' data and super-
vised the whole work making
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All the authors read and approved the final version of the
manuscript
Appendix 1
Features of PTFE prosthesis:
Low infections incidence
Absorbability by connective tissues
Low incidence of adhesions
Weak foreign body reaction
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