Systemic biomarkers currently implicated in the formation of abdominal wall hernia: A systematic review of the literature

The evaluation of risk factors in fascia dehiscence after abdominal surgeries

Background

Despite the advances in surgical techniques and risk control practices in recent years, open wounds following abdominal laparotomy still have a high prevalence. The purpose of this study is to investigate the risk factors of fascia dehiscence (FD) in abdominal surgery patients.

Methods

In this observational study, a total of 60 emergency and elective laparotomy patients were enrolled. For all patients, with (treatment) or without (control) wound dehiscence, a checklist was used to extract data from medical records regarding underlying diseases, suturing method, emergency or elective surgical procedure, duration of surgery less than 180 min, intraoperative bleeding, wound closure method, hernia repair, age, sex, smoking history, comorbidities, type of surgery, colostomy placement, wound complications, re-operation, mortality, wound complications including wound infection, wound dehiscence, incisional hernia, and anastomotic leak, and preoperative readiness assessments such as laboratory tests including C-reactive protein (CRP), Albumin (Alb), etc., were completed, and then comparisons were made.

Results

Patients were examined in two groups: 14 patients (70%) in wound dehiscence with age 40-60 and 6 patients (30%) in non-wound dehiscence with age 60-75. Eight patients (40%) underwent elective surgery, and 12 patients (60%) underwent emergency surgery (P=0.2). Fourteen patients (70%) experienced mortality (P<0.001) and 13 patients (65%) had Alb less than 3 (P<0.001). Fourteen patients (70%) had drain installation (P=0.02). It was determined that the increase in CRP levels (compared to pre-dehiscence levels) was observed in 17 out of 20 cases, with the highest difference being CRP=91 and an average increase of 30. None of the patients suspected of anastomotic leakage were confirmed to have it. Dehiscence was typically diagnosed between the 4th and 7th days post-surgery. The colon and rectum were significantly more associated with dehiscence, while the stomach had the lowest association among surgical sites.

Conclusion

Based on this study, FD is more common in patients treated in the emergency room than in elective procedures. Mortality occurred more in patients with FD, and there is a significant relationship between FD with albumin less than 3 and drain placement.

Exploring serum N-glycome patterns as candidate non-invasive biomarkers in inguinal hernia

Introduction

Although inguinal hernia (IH) is prevalent in elderly males, research on its specific diagnostic biomarkers is limited. Protein N-glycosylation is one of the most important and ubiquitous post-translational modifications and often results in a remarkable heterogeneity of protein glycoforms. Protein N-glycosylation often changes in a disease and holds great potential for discovering non-invasive biomarkers. This study aimed to gain insights into total serum protein N-glycosylation of IH to identify candidate non-invasive biomarkers for diagnosis and subtype classification of IH.

Methods

Linkage-specific sialylation derivatization combined with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry detection was used to analyze serum protein N-glycosylation patterns in IH patients and healthy controls.

Results

IH patients had abnormal glycan fucosylation and sialylation compared to healthy controls (HC), of which two glycan traits representing linkage-specific sialylation within monoantennary glycans showed high potential as diagnostic biomarkers for IH with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.75. Additionally, serum N-glycans were different between indirect IH and direct IH in glycosylation features, namely complexity, fucosylation, galactosylation, sialylation, and α2,6-linked sialylation. Four distinctive glycans between the two subtypes showed good performance with AUC >0.8, suggesting that these glycan traits have potential as biomarkers for subtype classification.

Conclusions

We first reported the serum N-glycomic features of IH patients. Furthermore, we identified several potential biomarkers for the diagnosis and subtype classification of IH. These findings can deepen the understanding of IH.

Port-site hernia recurrence at previous 5-mm laparoscopic access: case report and review of literature

Port-site hernia (PSH) of less than 10 mm is an exceptionally rare complication of minimally invasive surgery (MIS). To date, there have been no cases in the literature reporting recurrence of PSH from a 5 mm incision. We present the first case of PSH recurrence in a woman who underwent surgery for benign gynaecological pathology via a MIS approach. Her post-operative course was complicated by an episode of symptomatic hernia arising from a 5 mm accessory trocar which was surgically managed. A few months later she re-presented with the same symptoms and had a PSH recurrence of the same port-site. Two corrective surgeries employing different techniques were performed. The first episode was managed laparoscopically using interrupted stitches. On the other hand, the PSH recurrence was managed by placement of a mesh. Ultrasound played a crucial role in diagnostics, especially in the recurrent setting. Due to the complete absence of similar cases in the literature, the decision making around the management of a PSH recurrence from a 5 mm trocar site proved to be challenging. As MIS is the current standard of care, more cases are likely to occur, however despite the increasing number of surgical procedures performed via MIS, no established guidelines for managing such complications have been proposed. Trying to bridge this gap, we present the case report of the first case of PSH recurrence from a 5 mm accessory port and a review of the most significant literature available to date. We finally summarise the reported cases of PSH and the types of surgical repair conducted to highlight the absence of a standard of care.

Abdominal wall surgery units accreditation. The Spanish model

The Spanish Association of Surgeons (AEC) deems it essential to define and regulate the acquisition of high-specialization competencies within General Surgery and Gastrointestinal Surgery and proposes the Regulation for the accreditation of specialized surgical units. The AEC aims to define specialized surgical units as those functional elements of the health system that meet the defined requirements regarding their provision, solvency, and specialization in care, teaching, and research. In this paper we present the proposed accreditation model for Abdominal Wall Surgery Units, as well as the results of a survey conducted to assess the status of such units in our country. The model presented represents one of the pioneering initiatives worldwide concerning the accreditation of Abdominal Wall Surgery Units.

Abdominal wall hernia repair: from prosthetic meshes to smart materials

Hernia reconstruction is one of the most frequently practiced surgical procedures worldwide. Plastic surgery plays a pivotal role in reestablishing desired abdominal wall structure and function without the drawbacks traditionally associated with general surgery as excessive tension, postoperative pain, poor repair outcomes, and frequent recurrence. Surgical meshes have been the preferential choice for abdominal wall hernia repair to achieve the physical integrity and equivalent components of musculofascial layers. Despite the relevant progress in recent years, there are still unsolved challenges in surgical mesh design and complication settlement. This review provides a systemic summary of the hernia surgical mesh development deeply related to abdominal wall hernia pathology and classification. Commercial meshes, the first-generation prosthetic materials, and the most commonly used repair materials in the clinic are described in detail, addressing constrain side effects and rational strategies to establish characteristics of ideal hernia repair meshes. The engineered prosthetics are defined as a transit to the biomimetic smart hernia repair scaffolds with specific advantages and disadvantages, including hydrogel scaffolds, electrospinning membranes, and three-dimensional patches. Lastly, this review critically outlines the future research direction for successful hernia repair solutions by combing state-of-the-art techniques and materials.