Descriptive Analysis of Outcomes After Onlay Ventral Hernia Repair in Obese Patients.

OBJECTIVE: To determine outcomes after on lay large ventral hernia repair in obese patients. INTRODUCTION: Large ventral hernia repairs (VHR) in obese patients remain a challenge. Obesity is a risk factor for intraoperative difficulties and postoperative complications. Recurrence rates after VHR in obese patients range between 12-50% versus 10% in nonobese patients. While results of laparoscopic techniques in VHR compare favorably to open, outcomes in correlation with obesity, technique, and defect size are less understood. METHODS: A single surgeon's experience of 329 consecutive VHR between 2013-2022 was retrospectively reviewed. Inclusion criteria were obesity (BMI >30) and large hernia defects (>5 cm). A modified onlay technique was used which included component release and a lightweight monofilament polypropylene mesh. Primary outcome measures were hernia recurrence and wound complications. RESULTS: A total of 56 patients met inclusion criteria. Patients were majority male (n=30, 54%), with a median age of 58.5 years (inter quartile range (IQR) 33-83), and median BMI of 36 kg/m2 (IQR: 30-72). Median hernia defect size was 8 cm (IQR: 5-15). Twenty patients had undergone prior mesh repairs. Median follow-up was 52 months (IQR: 6 months-9 years). Two patients experienced recurrence (3.6%) and four experienced wound complications (four seromas, one panniculitis, 8.9%). No patients suffered flap ischemia or necrosis. CONCLUSION: Obesity is a risk factor for poor outcomes after VHR. We developed a protocol for obese patients with large defects involving a modified onlay technique which demonstrates comparable results to other VHR techniques in obese patients.

Perineural bupivacaine injection reduces inguinodynia after inguinal hernia repair.

BACKGROUND: Inguinodynia, defined as pain lasting >3 months after inguinal hernia repair, remains the major complication of hernia operation. We sought to determine the effect of direct perineural infiltration on acute pain and inguinodynia after open inguinal hernia repair. METHODS: Patients who presented with an inguinal hernia at a university teaching hospital were evaluated prospectively and randomized to either (1) percutaneous ilioinguinal nerve block or (2) percutaneous ilioinguinal nerve block with additional perineural infiltration of the ilioinguinal, iliohypogastric, genitofemoral nerves. All patients in each group received a total of 12 mL of 0.5% bupivacaine. Self-reported faces of pain level (1-10), minutes to discharge from the recovery room, narcotic quantity consumed (oxycodone 5 mg/paracetamol 325 mg), days on narcotics, and incidence of inguinodynia at 3 months were all recorded. RESULTS: Ninety-two patients were randomized in the study. Patients who received perineural bupivacaine infiltration of nerves had less recovery room pain (1.3 vs 3.9, P < .001) and shorter recovery discharge times (89 vs 105 min, P = .047) and consumed fewer narcotics (9.7 vs 15.1 doses, P = .010). The incidence of inguinodynia at 3 months was less in the treatment group (8.2% vs 27.9%, P = .013). CONCLUSION: We have implemented a novel and inexpensive method of local nerve blockade that decreases pain immediately after operation and at 3 months postoperatively. Furthermore, our method leads to shorter recovery room stay and fewer narcotics after operation.

Acute small bowel perforation after wireless capsule endoscopy in a patient with Crohn's disease: a case report.

INTRODUCTION: Wireless capsule endoscopy is an important tool for minimally invasive evaluation of the small bowel, allowing improved diagnostic yield with low complication rates relative to traditional modalities. Recently however, reports on small bowel perforation after wireless capsule endoscopy have surfaced. Here we present the first case of acute small bowel perforation in a middle-aged male in the United States. CASE PRESENTATION: A 58-year-old male with a presumed quiescent history of Crohn's Disease presented to the Emergency Department in a septic state 48 hours after a wireless capsule endoscopy procedure complaining of abdominal pain, distension, and frequent emesis. A computed tomography scan of the abdomen was suggestive of small bowel perforation and ischemic enteritis. The patient was adequately resuscitated and taken to the operating room for an ileocecectomy and extensive resection of the small bowel. Pathology of the resected specimen revealed an ileal stricture and associated necrotizing ileitis, and a perforation just proximal to the stricture. CONCLUSION: Wireless capsule endoscopy remains the preferred endoscopic imaging method of the small bowel. This case illustrates the importance of appropriate patient selection and evaluation of functional patency of the small bowel prior to wireless capsule endoscopy, especially with the growing role of this procedure in the evaluation of inflammatory bowel disease.