Laparoscopic transperitoneal repair of lumbar incisional hernias: a combined suture and 'double-mesh' technique.

BACKGROUND: Lumbar hernias that occur after surgery are called lumbar incisional hernias. Recently, laparoscopic repair of these hernias has been reported with excellent outcomes. This is a retrospective study of our series of patients with lumbar incisional hernias. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We managed 11 patients with lumbar incisional hernias from 1996-2006. All the patients had undergone either nephrectomy or pyeloplasty in the past. Laparoscopic suturing of the defect and reinforcement with mesh were successfully performed for all the patients. RESULTS: There were more males than females, the age range was 42-65 years, and mean operating time was 120 min; discharge was at 1-2 postoperative days. There was no recurrence or mortality. Three cases had seroma, out of which two required aspiration after 60 days. DISCUSSION: Laparoscopic repair provides all the benefits of minimally invasive surgery, and the principles involved in repair of ventral hernias are applied in lumbar incisional hernias as well. Our technique involved suturing of the defect before placing a mesh over the defect. We theorize that approximating the ends of the muscles restores normal anatomy and results in functional improvement. For the larger hernias, we used two meshes to cover the defect--polypropylene and Parietex, sizes being 15 x 15 cm. CONCLUSION: Laparoscopic repair with prosthetic reinforcement is feasible and effective in the treatment of lumbar incisional hernias. Also, suturing of the defect may provide additional benefits.