Laparoscopic Repair of Incisional Hernia Following Liver Transplantation-Early Experience of a Single Institution in Taiwan

Outcomes of a Large Series of Laparoscopic Ventral Hernia Repairs after Liver Transplantation

BACKGROUND

The hernia defects that develop in liver transplant recipients tend to be complex. Unfortunately, there is a paucity of data to guide post-transplant hernia management. Our goal was to evaluate the outcomes following laparoscopic ventral hernia repair (LVHR) in liver transplant recipients.

METHODS

A retrospective review of a prospectively kept database of liver transplant patients at a single tertiary healthcare facility was completed. All patients between 2007 and 2020 who underwent LVHR for a hernia at their transplant incision site were included. The primary outcome studied was hernia recurrence. Secondary outcomes included time-to-hernia repair, complications, and length of stay (LOS).

RESULTS

There were 89 patients who met inclusion criteria. 82% were male, mean age was 60 years, and mean body mass index was 30.2 kg/m2. 94.4% were on tacrolimus and 36% on mycophenolate mofetil. Median time-to-hernia repair was 16 months with a mean mesh size of 743 cm2 and length of stay of 3.7 days. None required conversion to an open operation. Postoperative complications included ileus (20.2%), acute kidney injury (11.2%), pneumonia (6.7%), and bleeding requiring re-operation (1.1%). Hernia-related complications included chronic suture site pain (1.1%), seroma requiring intervention (3.3%), surgical site infection (3.3%), nonoperative mesh infection (1.1%), and mesh infection requiring explantation (1.1%). Median follow-up was 23 months. Hernia recurrence occurred in 4.5% and no predictive variables for recurrence were identified.

CONCLUSIONS

Although the hernia defects that develop in liver transplant recipients are complex and their comorbidities significant, LVHR can safely and effectively repair these defects with low rates of recurrence and complications.

Reconstrucción de la pared abdominal en pacientes con inmunosupresión: experiencia en una institución de alta complejidad

Introducción. Los pacientes con inmunosupresión llevados a cirugía abdominal convencional tienen un mayor riesgo de desarrollar hernias incisionales en el posoperatorio, y cuando ellas ocurren, es necesario individualizar el procedimiento quirúrgico de elección, según las características anatómicas, fisiológicas y clínicas de cada paciente. Este estudio describe las características demográficas y clínicas de los pacientes con inmunosupresión, llevados a reconstrucción de la pared abdominal, y sus desenlaces después de 30 días del procedimiento quirúrgico. Métodos. Serie de casos de pacientes con inmunosupresión llevados a reconstrucción de la pared abdominal, en un centro especializado de cuarto nivel de complejidad. Se incluyeron pacientes mayores de 18 años, operados en el período de enero de 2016 a diciembre de 2019. Resultados. Se presenta una serie de 18 pacientes, cinco (27,7 %) con algún tipo de inmunosupresión primaria y 13 (72,2 %) con algún tipo de inmunosupresión secundaria. La edad promedio fue de 56 años, 11 (61 %) fueron mujeres, el peso promedio de los participantes fue de 73,3 kg. Se encontraron complicaciones en ocho pacientes (44,4 %). Dos pacientes requirieron manejo en la Unidad de Cuidados Intensivos, por un máximo de tres días. Ninguno de los pacientes presentó recidiva de la hernia ni mortalidad. Discusión. La reconstrucción de la pared abdominal en pacientes inmunosuprimidos representa un reto para cualquier equipo quirúrgico debido a las condiciones especiales de los pacientes y a las variables asociadas al procedimiento. Las tasas de recidiva y de complicaciones de este estudio, se asemejan a las descritas en la literatura.

Peritoneal flap hernioplasty for repair of incisional hernias after orthotopic liver transplantation

Background

Repair of incisional hernias following orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) is a surgical challenge due to concurrent midline and transverse abdominal wall defects in the context of lifelong immunosuppression. The peritoneal flap hernioplasty addresses this problem by using flaps of the hernial sac to bridge the fascial gap and isolate the mesh from both the intraperitoneal contents and the subcutaneous space, exploiting the retro-rectus space medially and the avascular plane between the internal and external oblique muscles laterally. We report our short and long-term results of 26 consecutive liver transplant cases with incisional hernias undergoing repair with the peritoneal flap technique.

Methods

Post-OLT patients undergoing elective peritoneal flap hernioplasty for incisional hernias from Jan 1, 2010–Nov 1, 2017 were identified from the Lothian Surgical Audit system (LSA), a prospectively-maintained computer database of all surgical procedures in the Edinburgh region of south-east Scotland. Patient demographics and clinical data were obtained from the hospital case-notes. Follow-up data were obtained in Feb 2020.

Results

A total of 517 liver transplantations were performed during the inclusion period. Twenty-six of these (18 males, 69%) developed an incisional hernia and underwent a peritoneal flap repair. Median mesh size (Optilene Elastic, 48 g/m², BBraun) was 900 cm² (range 225–1500 cm²). The median time to repair following OLT was 33 months (range 12–70 months). Median follow-up was 54 months (range 24–115 months) and median postoperative stay was 5 days (range 3–11 days). Altogether, three patients (12%) presented with postoperative complications: 1 with hematoma (4%) and two with chronic pain (8%). No episodes of infection or symptomatic seroma were recorded. No recurrence was recorded within the follow-up period.

Conclusion

Repair of incisional hernias in patients following liver transplantation with the Peritoneal Flap Hernioplasty is a safe procedure associated with few complications and a very low recurrence rate. We propose this technique for the reconstruction of incisional hernias following liver transplantation.

Open or laparoscopic mesh repair of incisional hernia in patients that underwent liver transplantation: A systematic review and proportional meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Incisional hernias, that significantly affect the quality of life of patients, are common complications especially after major surgery, such as liver transplantation. The purpose of this meta-analysis is to outline the available evidence on the complications occurring after mesh implantation as a treatment of ventral incisional hernias (VIH) in liver transplant patients.

METHODS

MEDLINE, SCOPUS, Clinicaltrials.gov, CENTRAL and Google Scholar databases were searched for articles that reported the complications after mesh repair in patients that had undergone liver transplantation.

RESULTS

Eighteen studies, that involved 640 liver transplant patients who developed incisional hernia, were included. 546 of them underwent surgical repair with mesh implantation. 144 (26%) patients developed postoperative complications, and the most common was surgical site infection (17%). The pooled complication rate of open mesh repair of incisional hernia after liver transplantation was 23% (95% CI = 11%-37%), whereas the pooled complication rate of laparoscopic mesh repair was 20% (95% CI = 12%-29%).

CONCLUSION

Laparoscopic VIH repair with the implantation of mesh showed promising results, since the percentage of patients with postoperative complications was lower compared to the available data of those who underwent open VIH repair with mesh.