Chemical abdominal wall release using botulinum toxin A: A personal view

Introduction: Botulinum Toxin A (BTA) has gained increasing interest in hernia surgery, especially when dealing with complex ventral hernias. The goal of using BTA is the preoperative reduction of the transverse hernia diameter achieving a higher primary fascial closure rate, avoiding a potential additional component separation. However, high evidence data are sparse and the treatment protocols of BTA and patient selection are heterogenic. In this article, we review the most recent literature; discuss indications for BTA, the ideal patient selection, and available BTA protocols. Also, we provide our own data and discuss the potential future role of BTA in treating complex ventral hernias. Materials and Methods: We reviewed the available literature and analyzed our own data from patients with complex ventral hernias undergoing preoperative BTA application retrospectively. We present our BTA protocol and measured abdominal wall muscle and hernia parameters before BTA application and before surgery using CT scans. Results: In total 22 patients with a median diameter of the incisional hernias of 11.75 cm (IQR 10.9–13.4) were included in our study. BTA administration was performed 4 weeks prior to surgery. In CT scans a significant reduction of the thickness and an elongation of the lateral abdominal wall muscle compartment were seen in all patients. Also, the transverse hernia diameter decreased in all cases from median 11.8 cm (IQR 10.9–13.4) pre-BTA to 9.1 cm (IQR 7.6–10.2) presurgery. Primary fascial closure was achieved in all cases with additional component separation in three cases. Conclusion: BTA administration in the lateral abdominal wall muscle compartment is a helpful tool to simplify surgery of complex ventral hernias. It has a visible effect on the muscle parameters in the CT scans and subsequently may increase the rate of primary fascial closure. Further multicenter studies are necessary to gain data with higher evidence.