CT assessment of the visceral fat as a predictor of early postoperative complications after hernioplasty

Abstract Background Increased risk of wound healing complications following abdominal wall procedures may be associated with obesity and elevated body mass index. Our study's objectives are to assess the influence of visceral fat volume (VFV) on 30-day postoperative complications after hernioplasty procedure. Results At follow-up, 28.2% of patients had developed postoperative complications. The most frequent complication was surgical site infection (SSI) (25.4%) followed by surgical site hematoma (4.2%) and then cutaneous sinus tract (2.8%). Sensitivity analysis showed that defect size, visceral fat volume and subcutaneous fat volume can significantly predict postoperative complications with cutoff values 2.9 cm, 125 cm 3 and 301 cm 3 with sensitivity 100%, 79%, 73.7% and specificity 79%, 65% and 65%, respectively. Conclusion High values of visceral fat volume (VFV) were significantly associated with increased risk of postoperative complication following hernioplasty operation. This study suggests VFV as a risk assessment tool for patients undergoing hernioplasty.