The influence of mesh removal during laparoscopic repair of recurrent ventral hernias on the long-term outcome

Introduction Recurrent hernias can be treated by laparoscopy without the need for mesh removal. However, shrinkage of the mesh following recurrence affects most of the patients, and leaving a partially floating and rigid foreign body could be discussed. Aim To compare the outcomes of patients regarding the removal of previous mesh during laparoscopic repair of recurrent abdominal wall hernias. Material and methods Patients who underwent laparoscopic repair for recurrent ventral hernias between August 2012 and March 2015 were included in the study. The patients with complete removal of the mesh were included in the MR group and the patients with partial removal or without removal of the previous mesh were included in the non-MR group. Patient characteristics and demographics, previous hernia repair, defect size, mesh size, operative time, mean hospital stay, complications, recurrences, numeric pain rating scale (NRS), early termination of analgesics and prolonged use of analgesics were compared. Results A total of 112 patients with a mean age of 53.2 and mean body mass index of 31.1 kg/m2 underwent laparoscopic repair. There were 47 patients in the MR group and 54 patients in the non-MR group. Operative time was shorter in the non-MR group (p < 0.05), whereas symptomatic seroma and NRS scores on postoperative day 10 and at the 6th week were higher in comparison with the MR group (p < 0.05). Conclusions Mesh removal during laparoscopic repair of recurrent ventral hernias has an association with the reduction of pain and symptomatic seroma. However, further prospective comparative studies are required to verify this view.