Prospective comparison of laparoscopic incisional ventral hernia repair and Chevrel technique.

PURPOSE: Laparoscopic incisional hernia repair has become an attractive and widely adopted alternative to open procedures. The Chevrel technique is still frequently performed, owing to its safety and effectiveness. Our study prospectively compares the new and the old technique. METHODS: We prospectively collected data from laparoscopic and open incisional ventral hernia repairs performed from January 2006 to December 2008. Twenty-one patients were ultimately enrolled in the open and 20 in the video-laparoscopic (VL) group for the statistical analysis. RESULTS: Open and VL groups were homogeneous for demographics and size of parietal defect. No differences were observed in operating time and postoperative pain, although in the VL group, we found a tendency toward shorter hospital stays and higher postoperative quality of life. We reported a significantly higher rate of wound complications in the open group (7 vs. 1; P=0.03). CONCLUSIONS: Both techniques proved to be effective, although Chevrel presented a high rate of wound complications.