title: Patient reported outcomes after incisional hernia repair-establishing the ventral hernia recurrence inventory.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Assessing incisional hernia recurrence typically requires a clinical encounter. We sought to determine if patient-reported outcomes (PROs) could detect long-term recurrence.
  
  
  METHODS
  Adult patients 1 to 5 years after incisional hernia repair were prospectively asked about recurrence, bulge, and pain at the original repair site. Using dynamic abdominal sonography for hernia to detect recurrence, performance of each PRO was determined. Multivariable regression was used to evaluate PRO association with recurrence.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fifty-two patients enrolled with follow-up time 46 ± 13 months. A patient-reported bulge was 85% sensitive, and 81% specific to detect recurrence. Patients reporting no bulge and no pain had 0% chance of recurrence. In multivariable analysis, patients reporting a bulge were 18 times more likely to have a recurrence than those without (95% confidence interval, 3.7 to 90.0; P < .001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This preliminary study demonstrates that PROs offer a promising means of detecting long-term recurrence after incisional hernia repair, which can help facilitate quality improvement and research efforts.
authors: Department of Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, 1161 Medical Center Drive, D-5203 Medical Center North, TN 37232, USA. Electronic address: rebeccah.baucom@vanderbilt.edu.
authors: Rebeccah B
authors: RB
authors: Baucom
authors: Department of Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, 1161 Medical Center Drive, D-5203 Medical Center North, TN 37232, USA.
authors: Jenny
authors: J
authors: Ousley
authors: Department of Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, 1161 Medical Center Drive, D-5203 Medical Center North, TN 37232, USA; Department of Biostatistics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA.
authors: Irene D
authors: ID
authors: Feurer
authors: Department of Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, 1161 Medical Center Drive, D-5203 Medical Center North, TN 37232, USA.
authors: Gloria B
authors: GB
authors: Beveridge
authors: Department of Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, 1161 Medical Center Drive, D-5203 Medical Center North, TN 37232, USA.
authors: Richard A
authors: RA
authors: Pierce
authors: Department of Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, 1161 Medical Center Drive, D-5203 Medical Center North, TN 37232, USA.
authors: Michael D
authors: MD
authors: Holzman
authors: Department of Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, 1161 Medical Center Drive, D-5203 Medical Center North, TN 37232, USA.
authors: Kenneth W
authors: KW
authors: Sharp
authors: Department of Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, 1161 Medical Center Drive, D-5203 Medical Center North, TN 37232, USA.
authors: Benjamin K
authors: BK
authors: Poulose
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D005260:Female; D006555:Hernia, Ventral / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery*; D059685:Herniorrhaphy / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D000069290:Incisional Hernia / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D000071066:Patient Reported Outcome Measures; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015995:Prevalence; D011379:Prognosis; D012008:Recurrence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D017678:Sex Distribution; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States
keywords: Hernia recurrence; Patient reported outcomes (PROs); Ventral hernia recurrence inventory (VHRI); Ventral incisional hernia