Suture Repair vs Mesh Repair in the Treatment of Incarcerated Groin Hernia in Elderly Populations

Suture Repair vs Mesh Repair in the Treatment of Incarcerated Groin Hernia in Elderly Populations: a Retrospective, Single-center Study

Purpose:

Tension-free hernia repair is the gold standard for groin hernia repair. However, there is no consensus on the optimal surgical treatment for incarcerated groin hernia in elderly populations, The aim of this study was to compare the clinical efficacy of mesh repair and suture repair in the treatment of incarcerated groin hernia in elderly patients.

Methods:

Patients ≥65 years who underwent urgent surgical groin hernia repair from January 2015 to June 2022 will be included. Patient demographic data and short-term and long-term postoperative outcomes will be retrospectively analyzed.

Study Overview

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Conditions: Incarcerated Groin Hernia
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: suture repair; Other: mesh repair

Detailed Description

This study includes consecutive patients ≥65 years diagnosed with IGH who underwent emergency surgical repair at our center between January 2015 and June 2022. The study is conducted in compliance with the ethical standards laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its subsequent amendments.

Only true emergencies were included in the study, involving IGH patients who underwent urgent surgical repair within six hours of an emergency admission or patients who underwent emergency surgery due to sudden exacerbation while awaiting elective repair surgery during hospitalization. Various techniques were performed to repair IGH during the surgical procedure. In cases where there was no ischemic necrosis of the hernia contents, the hernia content was simply reduced, followed by high ligation of the hernia sac at the inner ring of the groin. Subsequently, mesh repair was conducted using a synthetic and biological mesh in the Lichtenstein or open preperitoneal techniques, while suture repair was utilized in the Bassini, Ferguson, or Halsted operation. For femoral hernias, McVay repair was used in suture repair while open preperitoneal techniques was used for mesh repair. In cases of IGH accompanied by intestinal necrosis, the initial procedure involved resection of the necrotic bowel followed by in vitro anastomosis through a groin incision. Subsequently, high ligation of the hernia sac was carried out, and the choice between mesh or tissue repair was left to the discretion of the surgeon. The choice of surgical techniques was based on the surgeons' experience and the overall condition of the patient. Based on the surgical method used, the researchers were categorized into two groups: suture repair and mesh repair groups.

After hospital discharge, the patient was scheduled for regular outpatient visits for at least 1 year of follow-up, physical Examination and patient's subjective perceptions were used to determine the presence of recurrence or other long-term complications. The end of the follow-up was June 2023. Recorded death, recurrence, or loss to follow-up were considered to be the endpoint.

Investigators collected data on the following three aspects: (1) patients' demographic information, including age, sex, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) grade, previous abdominal operation, previous surgical repair of groin hernia, history of acute incarceration, comorbidities, and time from incarceration to surgery; (2) surgical details, such as the type of groin hernia, preoperative antibiotic use, nighttime surgery (the start time of surgery was from 5 p.m. to before 8 a.m. the next day), hernia contents, bowel resection, hernia sac size, area of the hernia ring, prosthetic material used, open or laparoscopic surgery, type of anesthesia (general anesthesia or spinal anesthesia), placement of the drainage; and (3) clinical outcomes, which included postoperative recurrence as a long-term outcome, and the surgery related death, surgical site infection (SSI) within 30 days, length of hospital stay, ICU admission, and overall wound complications as short-term outcomes.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Estimated): 70

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Hekai Shi, M.D.; Phone Number: +86 18580290227; Email: 22211280026@m.fudan.edu.cn

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Patients ≥65 years diagnosed with incarcerated groin hernia (IGH) who underwent emergency surgical repair.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Patients diagnosed with incarcerated groin hernia (IGH).
2. Aged ≥65 years
3. Received emergency surgical repair (mesh or suture repair) at our center between January 2015 and June 2022.

Exclusion Criteria:

• IGH patients did not undergo either mesh repair or suture repair.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

2

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort	Intervention / Treatment
suture group; Patients ≥65 years who underwent urgent surgical groin hernia repair from January 2015 to June 2022 were included.	Other: suture repair; Suture repair was used to reinforce the abdominal wall, including Bassini, Ferguson, McVay, or Halsted technique.
mesh repair; Patients ≥65 years who underwent urgent surgical groin hernia repair from January 2015 to June 2022 were included.	Other: mesh repair; Mesh repair was conducted using a synthetic and biological mesh in the Lichtenstein or open preperitoneal techniques.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Recurrence	Recurrence is determined by physical examination or the patient's subjective perceptions	at least one year

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
length of hospital stay	The number of days from hospitalization to discharge	up to 3 months
length of ICU stay	The number of days in ICU	up to 3 months
surgery-related death	Deaths occurring during the first hospital stay	within 30 days after surgery
surgical site infection	would infection	within 30 days after surgery
overall complications	combination of Outcome 1 to 6	at least 1 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Fudan University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): September 30, 2023
• Primary Completion (Estimated): July 20, 2024
• Study Completion (Estimated): July 20, 2024

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: July 21, 2023
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 21, 2023
• First Posted (Actual): July 28, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): September 14, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 13, 2023
• Last Verified: September 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Emergency; Incarcerated groin hernia
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Pathological Conditions, Anatomical; Hernia, Abdominal; Hernia; Hernia, Inguinal
• Other Study ID Numbers: Huadong Hospital to FDU

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No