A propensity-score matched analysis of ventral-TAPP vs. laparoscopic IPOM for small and mid-sized ventral hernias. Comparison of perioperative data, surgical outcome and cost-effectiveness.

PURPOSE: Laparoscopic techniques have been used and refined in hernia surgery for several years. The aim of this study was to compare an established method such as laparoscopic intra-peritoneal onlay mesh repair (lap. IPOM) with ventral Transabdominal Preperitoneal Patch Plasty (ventral-TAPP) in abdominal wall hernia repair. METHODS: Patient-related data of 180 laparoscopic ventral hernia repairs between June 2014 and August 2020 were extracted from our prospectively maintained database. Of these patients, 34 underwent ventral-TAPP and 146 lap. IPOM. After excluding hernias with a defect size > 5 cm and obtaining balanced groups with propensity-score matching, a comparative analysis was performed in terms perioperative data, surgical outcomes and cost-effectiveness. RESULTS: Propensity-score matching suggested 27 patients in each of the two cohorts. The statistical evaluation showed that intake of opiates was significantly higher in the lap. IPOM group compared to ventral-TAPP patients (p = 0.001). The Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) score after lap. IPOM repair was significantly higher at movement (p = 0.008) and at rest (p = 0.023). Also, maximum subjective pain during hospital stay was significantly higher in the lap. IPOM group compared to ventral-TAPP patients (p = 0.004). No hernia recurrence was detected in either group. The material costs of ventral-TAPP procedure (34.37 ± 0.47 €) were significantly lower than those of the lap. IPOM group (742.57 ± 128.44 € p = 0.001). The mean operation time was 65.19 ± 26.43 min in the lap. IPOM group and 58.65 ± 18.43 min in the ventral-TAPP cohort. Additionally, the length of hospital stay in the lap. IPOM cohort was significantly longer (p = 0.043). CONCLUSION: Ventral-TAPP procedures represent an alternative technique to lap. IPOM repair to reduce the risk of complications related to intra-peritoneal position of mesh and fixating devices. In addition, our study showed that postoperative pain level, material costs and hospital stay of the ventral-TAPP cohort are significantly lower compared to lap. IPOM patients.

Cost analysis of inguinal hernia repair: the influence of clinical and hernia-specific factors.

INTRODUCTION: As in the rest of the world, in Germany, inguinal hernia operations are among the most common operations. From an economic standpoint, very little is known about the influence of demographic, clinical or hernia-related parameters on the cost of inguinal hernia repair. We, therefore, evaluated individual patient parameters associated with higher costs with a special focus on multimorbidity. METHODS: A total of 916 patients underwent hernia repair for primary or recurrent inguinal hernia between 2014 and 2017 at a single university center and were included in the analysis. The clinical and financial data of these patients were analyzed to identify cost-increasing parameters. RESULTS: A majority of patients were male (90.7%), with a mean age of 55 years. The surgical methods utilized were mainly the TAPP (57.2%) and Lichtenstein (41.7%) procedures, with an average duration of surgery of 85 min and an average duration of anesthesia of 155 min. The mean cost of all procedures was 3338.3 € (± 1608.1 €). Older age, multimorbidity, emergency operations with signs of incarceration, longer hospital stays and postoperative complications were significant cost-driving factors. On the other hand, sex, the side of the hernia (left vs. right) and the presence of recurrent hernias had no influence on the overall direct costs. CONCLUSION: From a purely economic point of view, older age and multimorbidity are demographic cost-driving factors that cannot be influenced. The national hospital reimbursement system needs to consider and compensate for these factors. Emergency operations need to be prevented by early elective treatment. Long postoperative stays and postoperative complications need to be prevented by proper preoperative check-ups and accurate treatment.

De-novo Upper Gastrointestinal Tract Cancer after Liver Transplantation: A Demographic Report.

BACKGROUND: Immunosuppression is essential after liver transplantation (LT). It, however, increases the risk for cancer. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the prevalence and outcome of upper gastrointestinal (GI) tract cancer in LT patients and assess the perioperative risk of surgery for the upper GI malignancies post-LT. METHODS: 2855 patients underwent LT at our clinic from 1988 to 2018. 20 patients developed upper GI cancer. Data were retrospectively extracted from our database. Analysis included patients' specific data, tumor histopathology and stage, the treatment given and survival. RESULTS: 23 patients developed upper GI malignancies (2 gastric and 18 esophageal cancers; 3 excluded), translating to a incidence of 26.4 per 100,000 population per year. All patients were male. 80% showed alcohol-induced cirrhosis before LT. Most of the tumors were diagnosed at a stage ≥III. 70% underwent surgery and 78.6% developed postoperative complications. One-year-survival was 50%. Total survival rate was 28.6% with a median follow-up of 10 months (range: 0-184). CONCLUSION: Upper GI malignancies are more common after LT compared to the general population. Men after LT, due to alcohol-induced liver cirrhosis, are at a higher risk. Upper GI surgery after LT can be safe, but the severe risk for complications and a poor survival require strict indications.

[Laparoscopic versus open gastrectomy for advanced gastric cancer : Operative and postoperative results]. / Laparoskopische vs. offene Gastrektomie bei fortgeschrittenem Magenkarzinom : Operative und postoperative Ergebnisse.

BACKGROUND: Minimally invasive gastrectomy is increasingly becoming established worldwide as an alternative to open gastrectomy (OG); however, the majority of available articles in the literature refer to Asian populations and early stages of gastric cancer. This makes an international comparison difficult due to a discrepancy in patient populations and tumor biology as well as Asian and western treatment approaches. Little is known, therefore, whether laparoscopic gastrectomy (LG) can be performed in advanced cancer, in particular with respect to laparoscopic D2 lymphadenectomy, with sufficient radicality and safety in this country. MATERIAL AND METHODS: All gastrectomies performed for the treatment of advanced gastric cancer with clinical UICC stages 2 and 3 between 2005 and 2017 were analyzed. A case match by age, gender and UICC stage was performed to compare the operative and early postoperative results of LG and OG. RESULTS: A total of 243 patients with advanced gastric cancer were analyzed. Of these 81 patients (33.3%) underwent LG. The operative time for LG was around 74 min longer (279.2 min vs. 353.4 min, OG vs. LG; p < 0.001), the hospital stay after LG was around 4 days shorter (22.9 days vs. 18.4 days, OG vs. LG; p < 0.001). Significantly more lymph nodes were resected by LG (24.1 lymph nodes vs. 28.8 lymph nodes, OG vs. LG; p < 0.001). In terms of morbidity and mortality there were no differences between the groups. CONCLUSION: The present study showed that minimally invasive gastrectomy can be performed safely and with comparable histopathological results to open surgery, even in advanced gastric cancer in western populations; however, larger case series and evidence from high-quality studies are urgently needed especially to compare short-term and long-term survival.

[Elective treatment of inguinal hernia in university surgery-an economic challenge]. / Elektive Versorgung von Leistenhernien in der universitären Chirurgie ­ eine ökonomische Herausforderung.

INTRODUCTION: Elective and emergency inguinal hernia surgery is a central task for general and abdominal surgeons. As a standard procedure it is regarded as having a relatively low income in the German diagnosis-related groups (DRG) system. This can lead to an economic imbalance, especially in a cost-intensive environment of a university hospital. The aim of this analysis was to investigate the influence of clinical factors on costs and the contribution margin as well as the overall economic evaluation of elective inguinal hernia surgery at a university hospital. MATERIAL AND METHODS: All patients undergoing elective inguinal hernia surgery at two locations of the Charité University Medicine Berlin in 2014 and 2015 were included in the analysis. The influence of clinical, patient and surgical factors on the economic outcome of the cases was evaluated. RESULTS: A total of 419 patients were included, mostly after a Lichtenstein operation (44.9%) and laparoscopic transabdominal preperitoneal (TAPP) surgery (53.9%). The greatest impact on the economic outcome was the occurrence of postoperative complications. Also, a patient clinical complexity level (PCCL) value of >1, more than 8 encoded secondary diagnoses and a duration of hospital stay of less than 2 days had a significantly negative impact on the contribution margin. Overall, elective inguinal hernia surgery led to a negative contribution margin of €â€¯651 per case. CONCLUSION: Elective inguinal hernia surgery in the environment of a university hospital has a high financial deficit; however, since a complete discontinuation of this treatment is not an alternative multifactorial approaches are required to improve the economic outcome.

A comparison of laparoscopic and open repair of subxiphoid incisional hernias.

INTRODUCTION: Incisional hernias to the subxiphoid region are rare and anatomically challenging, with bony and cartilaginous structures attaching, as well as conflating abdominal fascia. The repair of hernias in this region is, therefore, difficult and prone to recurrence. The surgical treatment can be done by open or laparoscopic repair but very little is known about which method is superior. We, therefore, reviewed our data of patients undergoing repair of subxiphoid hernias. METHODS: Between January 2010 and June 2015 twenty-eight patients were treated by laparoscopic (n = 8) or open (n = 20) hernia repair due to an incisional hernia in the subxiphoid region. Patients with ventral hernias with an origin more distal than the M1-area only extending into the subxiphoid region and those undergoing suture hernia repair were excluded. RESULTS: The hernia sizes, in terms of length, width and EHS classification, did not vary between open and laparoscopic repair. The duration of laparoscopic surgery was significantly shorter than the mean operative time for an open subxiphoid hernia repair (168.1 min vs. 96.1 min, respectively; p = 0.012). The groups did not differ significantly in terms of overall postoperative complications (p = 0.568) but the grade (Clavien-Dindo) of complications was higher following open repair leading to three reoperations. Within the follow-up time, we diagnosed significantly (p = 0.031) more subxiphoid hernia recurrences after laparoscopic repair (37.5%, n = 3) than after open repair (0%). CONCLUSION: Laparoscopic and open repair of subxiphoid incisional hernias are both technically challenging compared to other midline hernias. Referring to our results laparoscopic repair has shorter operative times, lower postoperative morbidity with a higher recurrence rate compared to open repair but the sample size is too small for an overall conclusion.