title: Vertical abdominal incisions--a choice?
abstract: A prospective randomized trial was carried out on 207 patients undergoing laparotomy using three different vertical abdominal incisions--midline, 'medial' paramedian incision and 'lateral' paramedian incision. The lateral paramedian incision is slightly more time-consuming to perform than the other two incisions but there is a statistically greater incidence of incisional hernia in midline and medial paramedian wounds than with the lateral paramedian incision. It is suggested that when a vertical abdominal incision is being considered the lateral paramedian should be the incision of choice.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006547:Hernia / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D007813:Laparotomy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011897:Random Allocation; D012140:Respiratory Tract Diseases / Q000150:complications; D013529:Surgical Wound Dehiscence / Q000209:etiology; D013530:Surgical Wound Infection / Q000209:etiology; D013536:Suture Techniques