How-we-do-it: the repair of postoperative ventral hernias after a Mercedes abdominal incision.

PURPOSE: To describe the abdominal wall reconstruction technique with an Ultrapro mesh and outcome for the repair of postoperative ventral hernias after the use of a Mercedes incision during the initial abdominal operation. METHOD: A retrospective review of all the patients undergoing elective postoperative ventral hernia repair between 2013 and 2019. The cohort of these patients that had an initial Mercedes incision was used for this study. RESULTS: Fourteen patients met the criteria for this study. Thirteen of the patients were transplant patients (10 liver transplant and 3 combined pancreas and kidney transplant), and one patient was after a hepatectomy. Fifty-seven percent of these hernias were multiple defects. All the patients underwent the same repair of a modified Rives-Stoppa, transversus abdominis release, and a bilateral transverse plication. A partially absorbable Ultrapro mesh was used for all the patients, with two of the patients needing an additional Symbotex mesh in order to bridge a portion of the posterior fascia. There were 6 minor early postoperative complications (hematoma, superficial wound infection, and seroma) that did not require reoperation. Two patients were readmitted for observation of a wound hematoma, and two patients (14.2%) had recurrence during the follow-up period. The average length of hospitalization was 5.6 days. CONCLUSION: This technique, with the use of an Ultrapro mesh, was found to be safe and effective for the repair of a postoperative ventral hernia due to an initial Mercedes incision.

Reduced Sirtuin1 expression at the femoral neck in women who sustained an osteoporotic hip fracture.

UNLABELLED: To investigate the role of Sirtuin1 in osteoporosis, Sirtuin1 was determined at the femoral neck in female patients undergoing hip operation for fractured hip or osteoarthritis. Reduced Sirtuin1 was found in osteoporotic patients. Pharmacologic activation of Sirtuin1 reduced sclerostin, an inhibitor of bone formation. Activation of Sirtuin1 may be a new direction to generate therapies for osteoporosis. INTRODUCTION: The aim of the study are to investigate the role of Sirtuin1 (Sirt1), an anti-aging factor and a player in age-associated diseases, in osteoporotic hip fractures, and test the hypothesis that Sirt1 is a negative regulator of sclerostin, a bone formation inhibitor, in human femoral bone marrow mesenchymal cells (BM-MSCs). METHODS: Sirt1 and sclerostin were determined by western blot in bone samples obtained intra-operatively from the inferior medial cortex of the femoral neck (calcar region) in female patients undergoing partial hip replacement for fractured neck of femur (N = 10) or hip replacement for osteoarthritis (N = 8) (mean ± SD age 81 ± 8.1 vs. 68 ± 9.3 years; BMI 26.2 ± 3.6 vs. 25.9 ± 7.1 kg/m(2) in osteoporotic and osteoarthritis patients). Calcar thickness and femoral bone mineral density (BMD) were determined preoperatively by X-ray using a digital TraumaCad(™) software and DEXA. Femoral BM-MSCs were collected intra-operatively and treated with SRT3025, a Sirt1 activator. Sclerostin and dentin matrix acidic phosphoprotein (DMP1) were determined by western blot and messenger RNA (mRNA) expression of Lef1 and DMP1 was evaluated by quantitative real-time PCR. RESULTS: Osteoporotic (OP) patients had reduced cortical thickness, femoral neck, and total hip BMD compared to osteoarthritis (OA) patients. Calcar Sirt1 expression was significantly reduced, while sclerostin was markedly increased in OP compared to OA patients. Sirt1 and sclersotin expressions were inversely correlated (r = -0.49, P = 0.047). SRT3025 administration down-regulated sclerostin and up-regulated DMP1 protein level and increased LEF1 and DMP1 mRNA expressions in OP patient-derived BM-MSCs. CONCLUSIONS: Reduced femoral neck Sirt1 may play a role in osteoporotic hip fractures in part via influencing local sclerostin expression. The therapeutic potential of Sirt1 activation in osteoporosis warrants further investigation.