Are mesh anchoring sutures necessary in ventral hernioplasty? Multicenter study.

BACKGROUND: Avoiding mesh fixation to the surrounding tissue in ventral hernioplasty would simplify the operation, decrease the time of the procedure, and decrease the risk of suture-related complications. METHODS: Four hospitals included 111 patients according to the common protocol for prospective clinical evaluation of sutureless ventral hernioplasty. Surgical technique involves placement of the polypropylene mesh with flat-shape memory in either the retromuscular or preperitoneal space without suture anchoring. RESULTS: Local complication rate was low (12.6%, 14 patients), postoperative pain measured according to the visual analogue scale was minimal (mean 4, range 1-8). Three recurrences (3%) were recorded. Mild scar discomfort, which did not require treatment nor limit physical activity, was recorded in 28 (25%), 18 (17%), and 11 (14%) patients at 6-month, 1- and 2-year follow-up, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Results of the study suggest that the sutureless sublay technique is safe and effective in the treatment of ventral abdominal hernia, especially in small and medium defects.

Coagulation status and the presence of postoperative deep vein thrombosis in patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

BACKGROUND: Venous thromboembolism is a relevant social and health care problem because of its high incidence among patients who undergo surgery (20-30% after general surgical operations and 50-75% after orthopedic procedures), its pulmonary embolism-related mortality rate, and its long-term sequelae (postthrombotic syndrome and ulceration), which may be disabling. This study aimed to determine the coagulation status and the presence of postoperative deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in patients undergoing laparoscopic (LC) and open cholecystectomy (OC). METHODS: Prospectively, 114 patients were randomized into two groups. group 1 (58 patients undergoing LC) and group 2 (56 patients who are undergoing OC). The coagulation parameters (prothrombin time [PT], partial thromboplastin time [PTT], D-dimer, prothrombin F1 + 2, antithrombin III, and factor VII) were monitored preoperatively and during the operation, then 24 and 72 h after the operation. The patients in both groups underwent color duplex scan examination preoperatively, then 3 and 7 days after surgery to establish the presence of DVT. None of the patients in either group received thrombosis prophylaxis. RESULTS: In the LC group, postoperative DVT developed in four patients (6.9%; in the calf veins of 3 patients and in the popliteal vein of 1 patient). In the OC group, nine patients (16.07%) had postoperative DVT (in the calf veins of 7 patients and in the popliteal and femoral veins of 2 patients). The plasma levels of monitored parameters in the patients of both groups were altered, but the difference between the groups was not statistically significant. For the patients in both groups who experienced DVT, only the decrease of factor VII had statistical significance (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of postoperative DVT among the patients who underwent OC was higher than among the patients who underwent LC (p < 0.05). The decrease in factor VII among the patients who underwent surgery could be a potentially useful parameter indicating the patients at high risk for developing DVT.

Primary omental liposarcoma presenting as an incarcerated inguinal hernia.

Herein, we present a case of primary liposarcoma of the omentum found in an incarcerated inguinal hernia in a 52-year-old male patient. The patient was admitted to our hospital in June 2000 with sudden onset of left-sided abdominal and groin pain of 12 hours' duration with a large, irreducible inguinal hernia. This was not associated with nausea or vomiting. An emergency operation was performed, and in the hernia sac the tumor, arising from the greater omentum, was found. After we opened the transversal fascia and peritoneum, the tumor was resected with a block of the greater omentum, and hernioplasty was performed using Shouldice's method. The histopathological diagnosis of resected tumor showed myxoid type liposarcoma. In the English medical literature, omental liposarcoma has never before been reported as the content of a hernia sac.