Incidence of Surgical Site Infections in Laparoscopic VS Open Primary Ventral Hernia Repair

Background: The ventral hernias found along the midline in anterior abdominal wall, known as “primary midline ventral hernias”, are frequent in the general population. These hernias can be addressed through two primary surgical methods: laparoscopic ventral hernia repair, which involves “intraperitoneal onlay mesh hernioplasty (IPOM)”, and traditional open herniorrhaphy or hernioplasty. Objective: This study was performed to compare the incidence of surgical site infections between the traditional open repair method and the laparoscopic repair technique of ventral hernia. Study Design: Prospective randomized control study. Settings: Surgical Unit-II, Department of Surgery at Benazir Bhutto Hospital in Rawalpindi Pakistan. Duration: January 2020 to 2022. Methods: A total of 60 patients participated, with 30 undergoing “laparoscopic ventral hernia repair (LVHR)” and 30 undergoing “open ventral hernia repair (OVHR)”. Non-probability consecutive sampling technique was employed, and the outcome variable was surgical site infection. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) version 25.0, with the significance determined using the Chi-square test. A p value of ≤ 0.05 was considered as significant. Results: Out of 60 patients, surgical site infection (SSI) was present in a total of 10 patients (16.6%). Out of these 10 patients, 6.6%(n=2) had SSI in the laparoscopic group and 26.6 %(n=8) in open repair. The distribution of these frequencies was significant (p=0.001). Conclusion: Laparoscopic ventral hernia repair has a lower rate of surgical site infection as compared to open ventral hernia repair.