European Ventral Hernia Class of 2013
F. Muysoms
Moderator(s): Dick van Geldere (Zwolle, The Netherlands) & Filip Muysoms (Ghent, Belgium)
15:30 - 15:33h
at Jurriaanse Zaal
Categories: Session 4. Class of 2013
Parallel session: Session 4. Class of 2013
Aim:
First steps towards a European cooperative survey on Ventral Hernia Repairs (VHR)
Methods:
Club-Hernie is a team of French parietalists, gathering all their anonymised parietal data in both ventral and inguinal registries. Each participant must accept and sign the Quality Charter stating that all input be consecutive, unselected, exhaustive, registered in real time in the e-registry, and accept further random controls of the original medical chart.
For this cooperative study, 164 parameters were screened, including the pre, per and post operative data. The follow-up consisted in a M1 visit (+ M3 if patient not asymptomatic) and 1Y phone questionnaire achieved by a clinical research assistant (CRA) independent from the operative surgeon. A clinical control was suggested in case of symptoms. Pre and postoperative quality of life (Q.O.L) were assessed and compared.
Results:
From 01/01/2013 to 06/30/2013, 465 VHR were registered in our database by 21 surgeons. Fifteen of these surgeons, accounting for 359 VHR participated in the complete follow-up while six did not provide the CRA with their patients’ address.
Among these 359 VHR, 69 patients (19 %) were lost to follow-up, due to changes in their phone numbers, two declined to answer the questionnaire and four had died from unrelated diseases. Two hundred and eighty four (80%) VHR were followed up.
Eleven recurrences (3,87%) occurred (5 re-operated).
Post-operative Q.o.L was compared to pre-operative one: Eighty two percent of patients were asymptomatic at 1 year compared to only 16.5% in the preoperative period. Along this one-year post-operative period, the pain, when present, dramatically decreased in number of patients, severity, frequence of episodes of pain, and changed in its characters, with a reduced impact on Q.o.L. The repair of these ventral hernias clearly improved our patients’ Q.o.L.
Three additional comparisons were made: Small primary vs small incisional hernias, laparoscopic vs open repairs in small ventral hernias, gap closure or not in laparoscopic repairs of small hernias.
Conclusion:
These data are available to be aggregated in a cooperative study.
