[Open intraperitoneal hernia repair for treatment of abdominal wall defects--early results by placement of a polypropylene-ePTFE-mesh].

BACKGROUND

Large incisional hernias are mainly repaired today by tension free implantations of prosthetic meshes using various placement methods. The advantages of the intraperitoneal open technique (IPOM) using a polypropylene mesh that is coated with ePTFE on the side facing the intestine, are described.

METHODS AND RESULTS

62 patients underwent an incisional hernia operation with the intraperitoneal positioning of a prosthetic mesh. The follow-up examinations after a range of 16.1 months showed a hernial recurrence rate of 6.4 %. A part of the resulting mesh infections (11.2 %) healed without surgical removal of the mesh. Clinical complications due to adhesion formation were not observed.

CONCLUSION

The tissue sparing intraabdominal positioning technique simplifies the necessary overlap using healthy tissue as a prerequisite for a sufficient hernia repair exploiting the intraabdominal pressure.