A simplified laparoscopic ventral hernia repair: the scroll technique.
BACKGROUND
Laparoscopic ventral hernia repair has steadily gained recognition as an alternative to the open approach. However, the procedure can be technically challenging. The authors present their simple scroll technique for laparoscopic ventral hernia repair.


METHODS
A total of 174 patients underwent laparoscopic ventral hernia repair using the scroll technique. The technique entails fixation of the rolled mesh to the anterior abdominal wall before it is unfolded. Patient characteristics, operative time, and complications were analyzed and compared with pooled data from the available literature on laparoscopic ventral hernia repair.


RESULTS
The mean operative time was comparable with that reported by others (mean, 102 vs. 100 min). The hospital stay was shorter (mean, 1.8 vs. 2.4 h). During a mean follow-up period of 28 months, the recurrence rate was lower than that reported by others (1.7% vs. 4.3%). There were no mortalities and no cases of inadvertent bowel injury.


CONCLUSIONS
The authors' scroll technique for laparoscopic repair is simple, feasible, and reproducible, with a short learning curve and a low recurrence rate.
Saber
A A
AA
Department of Surgery, Michigan State University/Kalamazoo Center of Medical Studies, 1000 Oakland Drive, Kalamazoo, MI 49008, USA. Saber@kcms.msu.edu
Elgamal
M H
MH
Rao
A J
AJ
Itawi
E A
EA
Mancl
T B
TB
D005260:Female; D006555:Hernia, Ventral / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D010535:Laparoscopy / Q000379:methods*; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D012008:Recurrence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013526:Surgical Mesh; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome