title: Repair of a postappendectomy massive ventral hernia using tissue expanders.
abstract: Reconstruction of large abdominal wall defects is a challenging problem. Various reconstructive techniques have been described in the surgical literature each with its advantages and disadvantages. In this report we describe our experience in treating a patient with large abdominal wall defect by staged abdominal wall reconstruction utilizing prosthetic mesh in conjunction with tissue expanders. A 41-year-old male presented with abdominal pain. Exploratory laparotomy showed perforated appendicitis with intraabdominal abscess of 1,500 mL. Postoperatively, he developed intraperitoneal sepsis. To prevent abdominal compartment syndrome, he was reoperated and left with "open abdomen". After several open abdomen lavages, his abdominal wall defect was allowed to granulate. After epithelization of the defect, the abdominal wall was reconstructed using prosthetic mesh and tissue expanders. The tissue expansion process was well tolerated. We suggest that the use of tissue expanders provides reliable and well-vascularized soft-tissue coverage in abdominal wall reconstruction.
authors: Department of General Surgery, Bezmialem Vakif University Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors: Yeliz Emine
authors: YE
authors: Ersoy
authors: Fatih
authors: F
authors: Celebi
authors: Fazilet
authors: F
authors: Erozgen
authors: Selma Sonmez
authors: SS
authors: Ergun
authors: Murat
authors: M
authors: Akaydin
authors: Rafet
authors: R
authors: Kaplan
keywords: Abdominal hernia; Reconstruction; Tissue expander