Association of active smoking on 30-day wound events and additional morbidity and mortality following inguinal hernia repair with mesh: an analysis of the ACHQC database

The impact of smoking on inguinal hernia repair outcomes: a meta-analysis of multivariable-adjusted studies

PURPOSE

While the detrimental effects of smoking on postoperative outcomes are recognized, the extent of its risk for inguinal hernia repair remains unclear. Our study aims to assess the influence of smoking on patients who undergo inguinal hernia repair.

METHODS

We systematically reviewed PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane databases. Our goal was to identify studies that compared postoperative outcomes in smoking and non-smoking patients after inguinal hernia repair, and which employed a multivariate analysis to reduce possible confounding factors. Outcomes were recurrence, postoperative complications, and surgical site infection. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were computed with the use of a random-effects model. Heterogeneity was examined with I2 statistics. This review was prospectively registered in PROSPERO (CRD42023445513).

RESULTS

Our analysis encompassed 11 studies, involving a total of 577,901 patients. Of these, 77,226 (or 13.4%) identified as smokers, with males constituting 90% of the cohort. In terms of surgical approaches, 58% underwent laparoscopic procedures were most common at 58%, followed by open surgeries at 41%, and 1% used robotic techniques. All included studies had a low risk of bias. Smoking was associated with a higher incidence of hernia recurrence (OR 2.95; 95% CI 2.08 to 4.18; p < 0.001; I2 = 0%). No differences were found in postoperative complication (OR 1.15; 95% CI 1.00 to 1.32; p = 0.05; I2 = 56%) or surgical site infection (OR 2.94; 95% CI 0.80 to 10.88; p = 0.11; I2 = 79%).

CONCLUSION

Smoking was associated with a three-fold increase in recurrence. Further studies are needed to evaluate the impact of preoperative smoking cessation on reducing recurrence.

The impact of smoking on ventral and inguinal hernia repair: a systematic review and meta-analysis

PURPOSE

Individual studies indicate poorer outcomes for smokers after hernia repair. Previous meta-analyses have examined the impact of smoking on specific outcomes such as recurrence and surgical site infection, but there has been a lack of comprehensive consensus or systematic review on this subject. Addressing this gap, our study undertakes a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the impact of smoking on the outcomes of ventral hernia repair (VHR) and inguinal hernia repair.

SOURCE

A thorough search of Cochrane Central, Scopus, SciELO, and PubMed/MEDLINE, focusing on studies that examined the effect of smoking on inguinal and VHR outcomes was conducted. Key outcomes evaluated included recurrence, reoperation, surgical site occurrences (SSO), surgical site infection (SSI), and seroma.

PRINCIPAL FINDINGS

Out of 3296 screened studies, 42 met the inclusion criteria. These comprised 25 studies (69,295 patients) on VHR and 17 studies (204,337 patients) on inguinal hernia repair. The analysis revealed that smokers had significantly higher rates of recurrence (10.4% vs. 9.1%; RR 1.48; 95% CI [1.15; 1.90]; P < 0.01), SSO (13.6% vs. 12.7%; RR 1.44; 95% CI [1.12; 1.86]; P < 0.01) and SSI (6.6% vs. 4.2%; RR 1.64; 95% CI [1.38; 1.94]; P < 0.01) following VHR. Additionally, smokers undergoing inguinal hernia repair showed higher recurrence (9% vs. 8.7%; RR 1.91; 95% CI [1.21; 3.01]; P < 0.01), SSI (0.6% vs. 0.3%; RR 1.6; 95% CI [1.21; 2.0]; P < 0.001), and chronic pain (9.9% vs. 10%; RR 1.24; 95% CI [1.06; 1.45]; P < 0.01) rates. No significant differences were observed in seroma (RR 2.63; 95% CI [0.88; 7.91]; P = 0.084) and reoperation rates (RR 1.48; 95% CI [0.77; 2.85]; P = 0.236) for VHR, and in reoperation rates (RR 0.99; 95% CI [0.51; 1.91]; P = 0.978) for inguinal hernias between smokers and non-smokers. Analysis using funnel plots and Egger's test showed the absence of publication bias in the study outcomes.

CONCLUSION

This comprehensive meta-analysis found statistically significant increases in recurrence rates, and immediate postoperative complications, such as SSO and SSI following inguinal and VHR. Also, our subgroup analysis suggests that the MIS approach seems to be protective of adverse outcomes in the smokers group. However, our findings suggest that these findings are not of clinical relevance, so our data do not support the necessity of smoking cessation before hernia surgery. More studies are needed to elucidate the specific consequences of smoking in both inguinal and ventral hernia repair.

PROSPERO REGISTRATION

ID CRD42024517640.