Incisional Hernias - Open Surgical Repair
Open Surgical repair is the preferred surgical technique for Incisional hernias.
Different types of anesthesia can be provided for the hernia repair. These include local anesthesia, spinal or epidural anesthesia or general anesthesia.
During the surgery
- The patient lies on the operating table, either flat on the back or on the side, depending on the location of the hernia.
- General anesthesia is usually given, though some patients may have local or regional anesthesia, depending on the location of the hernia and complexity of the repair.
- A catheter may be inserted into the bladder to remove urine and decompress the bladder.
- If the hernia is near the stomach, a gastric (nose or mouth to stomach) tube may be inserted to decompress the stomach.
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- The abdomen and groin are prepared with an antibacterial solution.
- An incision is made about the length of the lump that is present.
- The tissue layers are divided until the weakness in the abdominal wall is identified.
- The contents of the hernia are pushed back into the abdomen.
- The tissue around the defect is dissected to find good, strong, healthy tissue, known as fascia. The fascia is the gristly layer that provides the strength to your abdominal wall.
- The defect is then closed, either by suturing together the good strong tissue on either side of the hole or by applying a synthetic mesh across it to patch the hole.
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- Following the repair, the layers of tissue are brought back together with sutures.
- The skin is closed with stainless steel staples, dissolvable sutures or non-dissolvable sutures. Occasionally, a small amount of skin is also removed to leave a better cosmetic result.
