Delphi consensus statement for understanding and managing the subcostal hernia: subcostal hernias collaborative report (scholar study)

INTRODUCTION

Subcostal hernias are categorized as L1 based on the European Hernia Society (EHS) classification and frequently involve M1, M2, and L2 sites. These are common after hepatopancreatic and biliary surgeries. The literature on subcostal hernias mostly comprises of retrospective reviews of small heterogenous cohorts, unsurprisingly leading to no consensus or guidelines. Given the limited literature and lack of consensus or guidelines for dealing with these hernias, we planned for a Delphi consensus to aid in decision making to repair subcostal hernias.

METHODS

We adopted a modified Delphi technique to establish consensus regarding the definition, characteristics, and surgical aspects of managing subcostal hernias (SCH). It was a four-phase Delphi study reflecting the widely accepted model, consisting of: 1. Creating a query. 2. Building an expert panel. 3. Executing the Delphi rounds. 4. Analysing, presenting, and reporting the Delphi results. More than 70% of agreement was defined as a consensus statement.

RESULTS

The 22 experts who agreed to participate in this Delphi process for Subcostal Hernias (SCH) comprised 7 UK surgeons, 6 mainland European surgeons, 4 Indians, 3 from the USA, and 2 from Southeast Asia. This Delphi study on subcostal hernias achieved consensus on the following areas-use of mesh in elective cases; the retromuscular position with strong discouragement for onlay mesh; use of macroporous medium-weight polypropylene mesh; use of the subcostal incision over midline incision if there is no previous midline incision; TAR over ACST; defect closure where MAS is used; transverse suturing over vertical suturing for closure of circular defects; and use of peritoneal flap when necessary.

CONCLUSION

This Delphi consensus defines subcostal hernias and gives insight into the consensus for incision, dissection plane, mesh placement, mesh type, and mesh fixation for these hernias.

Hernia Basecamp-A Free to Use, Online Hernia Learning Platform. Analysis of Its Use Since Launch in June 2021

Introduction: Hernia Basecamp is an online learning platform hosted within the WebSurg website. One of the drivers of its development was to cover the syllabus of the UEMS AWS examination, but it is a learning resource in its own right. There are currently 205 video lectures, with a number of them selected to create 10 modules of 3 h each with UEMS CME accreditation. The aim of this study was to review the Hernia Basecamp usage since launch in June 2021. Methods: The Hernia Basecamp WebSurg platform was interrogated using Matomo Analytics in January 2023 (19 month period since launch). Data on the number of visits, pages looked at and time spent on the platform per visit, along with the number of CME modules taken and passed were collected. Results: Users from 146 countries visited the Hernia Basecamp site 17,171 times (6,586 times, 38.4% in first 9 months). The top 5 countries by visitors were the United Kingdom, Mexico, Spain, United States and Germany (accounting for 29.4% of the visits). The average time spent per visit was 11 min 37 s (range: 47 s-49 min 4 s), and the number of pages/videos viewed per visit was 8.1 (range: 2-21). The number of UEMS CME modules taken was 675, and 326 (48%) of these tests were passed. Conclusion: In the first 19 months from launch, Hernia Basecamp provided over 3,000 h of hernia education. The UEMS approved CME accreditation tests were commonly used.

Autoimmunity and hernia mesh: fact or fiction?

BACKGROUND

There is an increasing number of patients following hernia surgery with implanted mesh reporting symptoms that could indicate autoimmune or allergic reactions to mesh. 'Allergy' to metals, various drugs, and chemicals is well recognised. However, hypersensitivity, allergy or autoimmunity caused by surgical mesh has not been proven by a scientific method to date. The aim of this study was twofold: to describe the pathophysiology of autoimmunity and foreign body reaction and to undertake a systematic review of surgical mesh implanted at the time of hernia repair and the subsequent development of autoimmune disease.

METHODS

A systematic review using the PRISMA guidelines was undertaken. Pubmed (Medline), Google Scholar and Cochrane databases were searched for all English-written peer-reviewed articles published between 2000 and 2021. The search was performed using the keywords "hernia", "mesh", "autoimmunity", "ASIA", "immune response", "autoimmune response".

RESULTS

Seven papers were included in the final analysis-three systematic reviews, three cohort studies and one case report. Much of the current data regarding the association of hernia mesh and autoimmunity relies on retrospective cohort studies and/or case reports with limited availability of cofounding factor data linked to autoimmune disease such as smoking status or indeed a detailed medical history of patients. Three systematic reviews have discussed this topic, each with a slightly different approach and none of them has identified causality between the use of mesh and the subsequent development of autoimmune disease.

CONCLUSION

There is little evidence that the use of polypropylene mesh can lead to autoimmunity. A large number of potential triggers of autoimmunity along with the genetic predisposition to autoimmune disease and the commonality of hernia, make a cause and effect difficult to unravel at present. Biomaterials cause foreign body reactions, but a chronic foreign body reaction does not indicate autoimmunity, a common misunderstanding in the literature.

P-014 RISK FACTORS FOR SHORT- AND LONG-TERM COMPLICATIONS FOLLOWING VENTRAL HERNIA REPAIR WITH THE PERITONEAL FLAP TECHNIQUE

Aim

The peritoneal flap technique has been introduced for the repair of complex abdominal wall defects. The present study was conducted to determine the association between preoperative risk factors and the incidence of short and long-term complications.

Material & Methods

Patients undergoing abdominal wall repair between January 2010 and September 2020 were included in the study. Patient files were retrospectively reviewed and the presence of risk-factors and the incidence of postoperative short and long-term complications were recorded. A multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to estimate odds ratio (OR) for postoperative complications.

Results

327 patients were included. 48.0% were male. Median body mass index(BMI) was 30.9, 13.8% had diabetes and 23.2% were active smokers. Median defect size was 8 cm2 and median mesh size was 667.5 cm2. Median length of hospital stay was 5 days. 13.1% of patients developed a superficial wound infection, 10.4% seroma and 1.2% skin necrosis. Chronic pain was observed in 4.6% and recurrence in 2.4%. The regression analysis demonstrated a stepwise increase in OR for short and long-term complications. This risk was increased by 10% per unit BMI (P<0.01). Smoking and hernial defect size contributed only to a minor extent to the risk of postoperative complications.

Conclusion

The peritoneal flap method is a safe procedure associated with a low risk of recurrence. The risk of complications is associated with BMI whereas smoking and hernial defect size only contributes to a minor extent.

OC-056 AUTOIMMUNE/INFLAMMATORY SYNDROME INDUCED BY SYNTHETIC HERNIA MESH IN ADULTS – DESCRIPTION OF THE PATHOPHYSIOLOGY AND SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF THE EVIDENCE

Background

There is an increasing number of patients following hernia surgery with implanted mesh reporting symptoms that could indicate autoimmune or allergic reactions. ‘Allergy’ to metals, drugs, and chemicals is well recognised. However, allergy or autoimmunity caused by mesh has not been proven by a scientific method to date. The aim of this study was twofold: to describe the pathophysiology of autoimmunity and foreign body reaction and to undertake a systematic review of mesh implanted at the time of hernia repair and the subsequent development of autoimmune disease.

Methods

A systematic review using the PRISMA guidelines was undertaken. Pubmed, Google Scholar, and Cochrane databases were searched for English-written articles published between 2000 and 2021. The search was performed using keywords “hernia”, “mesh”, “autoimmunity”, “ASIA”, “immune response”, “autoimmune response”

Results

Seven papers, were included in the final analysis – three systematic reviews, three cohort studies and one case report. Much of the current data regarding the association of hernia mesh and autoimmunity relies on retrospective cohort studies and/or case reports with limited availability of cofounding factor data linked to autoimmune disease. Three systematic reviews have discussed this topic, each with different approach and none of them has identified causality between the use of mesh and development of autoimmune disease.

Conclusion

There is evidence that certain biomaterials can lead to immune dysregulation and induce autoimmunity. However, this has never been proven with synthetic hernia mesh. The bias in trials are high. And scientific studies have not been undertaken mesh-related autoimmunity.

A modified Delphi process to establish research priorities in hernia surgery

BACKGROUND

Abdominal wall hernia repair is one of the most commonly performed surgical procedures worldwide, yet despite this, there remains a lack of high-quality evidence to support best management. The aim of the study was to use a modified Delphi process to determine future research priorities in this field.

METHODS

Stakeholders were invited by email, using British Hernia Society membership details or Twitter, to submit individual research questions via an online survey. In addition, questions obtained from a patient focus group (PFG) were collated to form Phase I. Two rounds of prioritization by stakeholders (phases II and III) were then completed to determine a final list of research questions. All questions were analyzed on an anonymized basis.

RESULTS

A total of 266 questions, 19 from the PFG, were submitted by 113 stakeholders in Phase I. Of these, 64 questions were taken forward for prioritization in Phase II, which was completed by 107 stakeholders. Following Phase II analysis, 97 stakeholders prioritized 36 questions in Phase III. This resulted in a final list of 14 research questions, 3 of which were from the PFG. Stakeholders included patients and healthcare professionals (consultant surgeons, trainee surgeons and other multidisciplinary members) from over 27 countries during the 3 phases.

CONCLUSION

The study has identified 14 key research priorities pertaining to abdominal wall hernia surgery. Uniquely, these priorities have been determined from participation by both healthcare professionals and patients. These priorities should now be addressed by well-designed, high-quality international collaborative research.

425 The Impact Of COVID-19 On Hernia Surgery in The Lothian Region Of Scotland

Aim

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a lockdown in South East Scotland on the 23 March 2020. This had an impact on the volume of benign elective surgery able to be undertaken. The degree to which this reduced hernia surgery was unknown.

The aim of this study was to review the hernia surgery workload in the Lothian region of Scotland and assess the impact of COVID-19 on hernia surgery.

Method

The Lothian Surgical Audit database was used to identify all elective and emergency hernia operations over a six-month period from 23 March 2020, and for the same time period in 2019. Data was collected on age, gender, location of the hernia, type of hernia repair and whether elective or emergency operation.

Results

The number of hernia repairs reduced dramatically between 2019 and 2020 (570 versus 149). The majority of this can be explained by a reduction in elective operating (488 versus 87). There was, however, also a reduction in the numbers of hernias repaired as an emergency over the same study periods (82 to 62). Lockdown in 2020 had the biggest effect on elective incisional hernia repair (74 versus 2).

Conclusions

The COVID-19 pandemic has reduced both the number of elective and emergency hernia operations in 2020 compared to 2019. While the reduction in elective surgery has not resulted in an associated increase in emergency surgery over the study period, it is possible that if continuing reduced availability to elective hernia surgery continues in Lothian, the emergency hernia workload may increase.

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.

Current trends in hernia surgery in NHS England

BACKGROUND

Mesh is recommended for the repair of most hernias when prevention of recurrence is the primary endpoint. However, mesh may be associated with increased complications for the patient. The aim of this study was to quantify the use of mesh for abdominal wall hernia surgery in NHS England in recent years.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The NHS Digital Secondary Uses Service database for 2016/17 and 2017/18 was interrogated for numbers of patient undergoing elective primary hernia surgery. Using the specific hernia code inguinal (T201-9), umbilical (T241-9), incisional (T251-9) and other abdominal wall hernia (T271-9), the use of mesh or suture repair was determined. Recurrent and emergency hernia surgery were excluded. All data were provided by NHS RightCare.

RESULTS

There are almost 100,000 hernia repairs performed annually in NHS England. For every four hernias, three are repaired with mesh. The percentage repaired by mesh varies by hernia type. Mesh repairs in inguinal, umbilical and incisional hernias accounted for 95%, 50% and 82%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Mesh repair for all hernia types is more common than suture repair. However, for umbilical and other abdominal wall hernias, a significant proportion are repaired without the use of mesh.

Peritoneal flap hernioplasty for reconstruction of transverse incisional hernias

BACKGROUND

Repair of transverse incisional hernias is a surgical challenge with current methods of abdominal wall reconstruction. The peritoneal flap hernioplasty addresses this problem using flaps of 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. The operative technique and long-term results of 80 consecutive cases with transverse incisional hernias undergoing repair with this method are reported.

METHODS

Patients undergoing elective peritoneal flap hernioplasty repair for transverse incisional hernias from Jan. 1, 2010 to Dec. 31, 2014 were identified from the Lothian Surgical Audit system, 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 May 2019 from hospital records and telephone interview.

RESULTS

80 patients, (n = 53 male, 66%) were identified. Mean follow-up was 83 months (range 55-114 months) and mean postoperative stay was 6.4 days (range 1-23 days). Eleven repairs (14%) were for recurrent hernia. Mean mesh size applied (Optilene Elastic, 48 g/m², BBraun) was 747 cm² (ranged 150-1500 cm²). Redundant skin excision was performed in 54% of cases. Altogether, seven patients (8.8%) presented with postoperative complications: five superficial wound infections (6.3%), one symptomatic seroma (1.3%) and one recurrence (1.3%) within the follow-up period.

CONCLUSION

The peritoneal flap hernioplasty is associated with few complications and a very low recurrence rate. We propose this technique as the method of choice for reconstruction of transverse abdominal incisional hernias when primary fascial apposition is not possible.

Minimising recurrence after primary femoral hernia repair; is mesh mandatory?

PURPOSE

The recent international hernia guidelines advocate laparoscopic pre-peritoneal mesh repair for primary femoral hernias. However, no randomised trial has demonstrated a lower recurrence rate compared to suture repair. This study aimed to determine the 5-year recurrence rate following femoral hernia repair, in elective and emergency settings, according to surgical approach (open or laparoscopic) and method (suture, suture + mesh, or mesh alone).

METHODS

Consecutive patients undergoing primary femoral hernia repairs within a single health board, between 2007 and 2013, were identified from a prospective audit. Patients who had died or were uncontactable during the period of follow-up were excluded. Recurrence was defined as the clinical suspicion of an ipsilateral groin hernia at outpatient review or patient reported ipsilateral groin swelling.

RESULTS

A total of 297 patients underwent primary femoral hernia repairs in the time period. Of the 138 cases with complete follow-up, 25 patients experienced recurrence at 5 years (18%), with 60% of recurrences evident within the first post-operative year. The median follow-up of the remaining 113 patients was 93 months (range 63-127). No difference could be detected in recurrence rates (P = 0.372, P = 0.353), or time to recurrence (P = 0.421, P = 0.295), according to repair type (suture only, suture and mesh, or mesh only) or surgical approach (high open, low open and laparoscopic pre-peritoneal), respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Use of different surgical approaches and types of repair for primary presentations of femoral hernia did not affect the recurrence rate or time to recurrence. Use of a pre-peritoneal mesh did not alter the recurrence rate or recurrence free survival, in either elective or emergency settings, compared to simple suture repair. Recurrence following primary femoral hernia repair tends to occur within the first post-operative year, suggesting that technical factors may be as important as suture or mesh failure.

Update of Guidelines for laparoscopic treatment of ventral and incisional abdominal wall hernias (International Endohernia Society (IEHS))-Part A

Abstract

In 2014, the International Endohernia Society (IEHS) published the first international “Guidelines for laparoscopic treatment of ventral and incisional abdominal wall hernias.” Guidelines reflect the currently best available evidence in diagnostics and therapy and give recommendations to help surgeons to standardize their techniques and to improve their results. However, science is a dynamic field which is continuously developing. Therefore, guidelines require regular updates to keep pace with the evolving literature.

Methods

For the development of the original guidelines, all relevant literature published up to year 2012 was analyzed using the ranking of the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine. For the present update, all of the previous authors were asked to evaluate the literature published during the recent years from 2012 to 2017 and revise their statements and recommendations given in the initial guidelines accordingly. In two Consensus Conferences (October 2017 Beijing, March 2018 Cologne), the updates were presented, discussed, and confirmed. To avoid redundancy, only new statements or recommendations are included in this paper. Therefore, for full understanding both of the guidelines, the original and the current, must be read. In addition, the new developments in repair of abdominal wall hernias like surgical techniques within the abdominal wall, release operations (transversus muscle release, component separation), Botox application, and robot-assisted repair methods were included.

Results

Due to an increase of the number of patients and further development of surgical techniques, repair of primary and secondary abdominal wall hernias attracts increasing interests of many surgeons. Whereas up to three decades ago hernia-related publications did not exceed 20 per year, currently this number is about 10-fold higher. Recent years are characterized by the advent of new techniques—minimal invasive techniques using robotics and laparoscopy, totally extraperitoneal repairs, novel myofascial release techniques for optimal closure of large defects, and Botox for relaxing the abdominal wall. Furthermore, a concomitant rectus diastasis was recognized as a significant risk factor for recurrence. Despite insufficient evidence with respect to these new techniques, it seemed to us necessary to include them in the update to stimulate surgeons to do research in these fields.

Conclusion

Guidelines are recommendations based on best available evidence intended to help the surgeon to improve the quality of his daily work. However, science is a continuously evolving process, and as such guidelines should be updated about every 3 years. For a comprehensive reference, however, it is suggested to read both the initial guidelines published in 2014 together with the update. Moreover, the presented update includes also techniques which were not known 3 years before.

Contemporary engagement with social media amongst hernia surgery specialists

PURPOSE

Healthcare professional engagement is increasing. This study aims to identify levels of adoption and engagement of several social media platforms by a large international cohort of hernia surgery specialists.

METHODS

Hernia specialists attending the 38th International Congress of the European Hernia Society were identified. A manual search was then performed on Twitter, ResearchGate, and LinkedIn to identify those who had named accounts. Where accounts were identified, data on markers of utilisation were assessed.

RESULTS

759 surgeons (88.5% male) from 57 countries were identified. 334 surgeons (44%) engaged with a social media platform. 39 (5.1%) had Twitter accounts, 189 (24.9%) had ResearchGate accounts and 265 (34.9%) had LinkedIn accounts. 137 surgeons (18.1%) had accounts on 2 or more social media platforms. There was no gender association with social media account ownership (p > 0.05). Engagement in one social media platform was associated with increased engagement and utilisation on other platforms; LinkedIn users were more likely to have Twitter accounts (p < 0.001) and ResearchGate profiles (p < 0.001). Surgeons on all three SM platforms were more likely to have high markers of engagement across all SM platforms (multiple outcomes, p < 0.05). Geographical variation was noted with UK and South American Surgeons being more likely to be present on Twitter than their counterparts (p = 0.031).

CONCLUSIONS

The level of engagement with social media amongst Hernia surgeons is similar to other surgical specialities. Geographical variation in SM engagement is seen. Engagement with one SM platform is associated with presence on multiple platforms.

Contemporary hernia smartphone applications (apps)

AIMS

Smartphone technology and downloadable applications (apps) have created an unprecedented opportunity for access to medical information and healthcare-related tools by clinicians and their patients. Here, we review the current smartphone apps in relation to hernias, one of the most common operations worldwide. This article presents an overview of apps relating to hernias and discusses content, the presence of medical professional involvement and commercial interests.

METHODS

The most widely used smartphone app online stores (Google Play, Apple, Nokia, Blackberry, Samsung and Windows) were searched for the following hernia-related terms: hernia, inguinal, femoral, umbilical, incisional and totally extraperitoneal. Those with no reference to hernia or hernia surgery were excluded.

RESULTS

26 smartphone apps were identified. Only 9 (35 %) had named medical professional involvement in their design/content and only 10 (38 %) were reviewed by consumers. Commercial interests/links were evident in 96 % of the apps. One app used a validated mathematical algorithm to help counsel patients about post-operative pain.

CONCLUSIONS AND OPPORTUNITIES

There were a relatively small number of apps related to hernias in view of the worldwide frequency of hernia repair. This search identified many opportunities for the development of informative and validated evidence-based patient apps which can be recommended to patients by physicians. Greater regulation, transparency of commercial interests and involvement of medical professionals in the content and peer-review of healthcare-related apps is required.

Work related aspects of inguinal hernia: a literature review

INTRODUCTION

There is a traditional belief that that an inguinal hernia can be the result of increased intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) and therefore the development of a hernia may be attributed to single strenuous or recurrent strenuous events. As a result of this, litigation in this area is frequent.

METHODS

Medline was searched for English language publications using the keywords of 'hernia' or 'hernia AND recurrence' combined with 'work related', 'physical activity' and 'intra abdominal pressure'. The reference lists of appropriate papers identified on the original search were also checked to identify all related publications.

RESULTS

The search revealed 268 papers of which 59 were identified as appropriate to the subject of this review. Although publications in this area are scarce, from the literature available to date, there is no evidence to support the idea that single or recurrent strenuous events or early return to work related activity should result in the formation or recurrence of an inguinal hernia.

CONCLUSION

Although immediate pain at the time of an intensive or recurrent activity followed by a new diagnosis of a hernia supports a link between the activity and the hernia occurrence, it is likely that a congenital or acquired weakness in the connective tissue or muscles of the patient meant that hernia occurrence was almost inevitable. This may have significant implications regarding 'work related' hernia and its associated litigation.

The multidisciplinary team meeting improves staging accuracy and treatment selection for gastro-esophageal cancer

The object of this article is to assess current staging accuracies for individual modalities and to investigate the influence of the multidisciplinary team (MDT) on clinical staging accuracies and treatment selection for patients with gastro-esophageal cancer. Patients newly diagnosed with gastric or esophageal cancer and who were deemed suitable for surgical resection by the MDT were studied. Patients were staged with a combination of computerized tomography (CT), endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) and laparoscopic ultrasound (LUS). Additionally, the MDT determined an overall clinical stage for each patient after discussion at the MDT meeting. Treatments were selected according to this final clinical stage. Final histopathological staging (pTNM) was available for all patients and was used as the gold standard for determining staging accuracy. Suitability of treatment selection was assessed once final pTNM was available. One hundred and eighteen patients were studied. Endoscopic ultrasound was the most accurate individual staging modality for the loco-regional assessment of esophageal tumors (T stage accuracy 78%, N stage accuracy 70%). Laparoscopic ultrasound was the most accurate modality in T staging of gastric cancers (91%). The MDT stage was more accurate than each individual staging modality for T and N staging for both gastric and esophageal cancers (accuracy range: 88-89%) and was better for the assessment of nodal disease than each individual modality (CT P < 0.001, EUS P < 0.01, LUS P < 0.01). Overall staging accuracy as determined at the MDT meeting was increased and resulted in only 2/118 (2%) patients being under-treated. The MDT significantly improves staging accuracy for gastro-esophageal cancer and ensures that correct management decisions are made for the highest number of individual patients.

An evaluation of the A&D UA-751 semi-automated cuff-oscillometric sphygmomanometer

We compared blood pressure recordings made with the A&D UA-751 semi-automated cuff-oscillometric sphygmomanometer (A&D Co. Ltd, Tokyo, Japan) and with a conventional Hawksley random-zero mercury sphygmomanometer (Hawksley and Sons Ltd, Lancing, UK). Simultaneous single-arm recordings were obtained in duplicate with both devices in 200 subjects having blood pressure in the ranges 92-221/51-121 mmHg. The measurements obtained by three observers using the Hawksley sphygmomanometer were compared with recordings from two A&D UA-751 devices. In most cases, there was an acceptable level of agreement between the results, according to the criteria suggested by the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (range of differences systolic: mean - 0.9 to 1.4 mmHg, s.d. 4.6-9.8 mmHg; diastolic: mean - 0.6 to 1.3 mmHg, s.d. 2.9-5.1 mmHg), although there were sizeable discrepancies in individual subjects. Thus the A&D UA-751 device appears to be an acceptable alternative to a conventional sphygmomanometer; it should be suitable for routine clinical and limited research use, including intermittent home blood pressure recording.