Comparative study among patients undergoing abdominal wall hernia surgery with sublay or onlay mesh in Al-Kadhimiya Teaching Hospital

Abstract

Background: The frequency of ventral hernia procedures is estimated to be above 350,000 per year. While small defects may still be repaired with sutures alone, mesh support in needed primary ventral hernias with a defected larger than 2 cm and incisional hernias. The onlay and sublay techniques are the most popular among surgeons. The objective of this study is to compare between the two techniques regarding intraoperative and postoperative outcomes.

Methods: This is a prospective cohort study that included 50 patients who underwent repair of ventral hernia using a sublay mesh technique and other 50 patients using the onlay technique. Both groups were compared regarding operative time and postoperative outcomes.

Results and Conclusion: Based on the current study findings, sublay mesh is significantly superior to onlay mesh in terms of postoperative pain, seroma formation, and hospital stay. Although wound infection and recurrence rates were not significantly lower in the sublay group, further studies with higher sample size might be able to detect such statistical significance. However, this superiority of sublay mesh comes at the expense of increased operative time.