Postoperative Comparison In Open Vs. Laparoscopic Ventral Hernia Repair In Obese Patients

Introduction: Obesity is an important problem in our society. Recent studies shows that laparoscopic ventral hernia repair has advantages in obese patients comparing with the standard open approach. This study wants to compare length of stay (LOS), hospitalization costs (HC) and operative time (OT) in laparoscopic and open ventral hernia repair.

Methods: A retrospective study of obese patients (BMI>30kg/m²) that underwent ventral hernia repair between 2014 and 2015 were included. We compared demographics, hernia size, OT, LOS, HC between the two approaches.

Results: 100 patients with ventral hernia repair were included, 11 had laparoscopic approach (11%). Laparoscopy was performed only in elective surgery and for small defects. The operation time was almost the same (119.09 vs.118.87 min). The length of stay was significantly longer in open approach (8.53 vs. 2.9 days) and hospitalization costs were higher for laparoscopic repair.

Conclusions: Laparoscopy offers a better length of stay, but the costs remains higher for this approach.