Hernia Mesh Complications May Increase Over Time
Patients undergoing incisional hernia repair with hernia mesh may have a lower risk for hernia recurrence, but complications can occur up to five years after surgery, a new study says.
The study by Dunja Kokotovic and colleagues published in JAMA Surgery and presented at the 2016 Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons showed that patients with hernia mesh have a lower rate of hernia recurrence.
But, it also showed that patients with mesh suffered more complications — some were major and required additional surgeries.
“In this registry-based nationwide cohort study including 3,242 patients, mesh repair was associated with a lower risk of reoperation for recurrence compared with nonmesh repair over a 5-year follow-up period,” study authors wrote. “However, a risk of long-term mesh-related complications for open and laparoscopic mesh repairs partially offset these benefits.”
At five years, the rate of recurrence was significantly lower for those who had
