From the Guidelines
Approximately 350,000 to 500,000 ventral hernia repairs are performed annually in the United States. This number includes both primary ventral hernias and incisional hernias that develop after previous abdominal surgeries. The frequency of these procedures has been increasing over time due to several factors, including rising obesity rates, an aging population, and improvements in surgical techniques that make repair more accessible to higher-risk patients.
Key Factors Influencing Ventral Hernia Repair Frequency
- Rising obesity rates
- Aging population
- Improvements in surgical techniques Ventral hernias represent one of the most common types of hernias requiring surgical intervention, second only to inguinal hernias in frequency. The majority of these repairs are now performed using mesh reinforcement techniques, which have been shown to reduce recurrence rates compared to primary suture repair alone 1. Laparoscopic approaches have gained popularity in recent years, though open repairs still constitute a significant portion of the total procedures performed, particularly for complex or recurrent hernias.
Recommendations for Ventral Hernia Repair
- The use of mesh in clean surgical fields is associated with a lower recurrence rate, without an increase in the wound infection rate 1.
- For patients having complicated hernia with intestinal strangulation and/or concomitant need of bowel resection, emergent prosthetic repair with synthetic mesh can be performed, without any increase in 30-day wound-related morbidity 1.
From the Research
Annual Ventral Hernia Repairs
- The number of ventral hernia repairs performed annually in the United States is estimated to be over 350,000 2, 3.
- This estimate is based on studies from 2013 and 2014, and it is unclear if this number has changed in recent years.
- The annual number of ventral hernia repairs is not reported in more recent studies, such as those from 2023 4, 2011 5, or 2007 6, which focus on the techniques and outcomes of laparoscopic and open ventral hernia repairs.
Types of Ventral Hernia Repairs
- Ventral hernia repairs can be performed using laparoscopic or open surgical techniques 2, 4, 5, 6.
- Laparoscopic repair is associated with reduced surgical wound site infection and shorter hospital stay compared to open repair 4, 5, 6.
- However, the recurrence rate and operative time may not differ significantly between laparoscopic and open surgery 5.