Application of surgical treatment for ventral hernia in the elderly

Objective To assess the characteristics of abdominal hernia and summarize the therapeutic efficacy of mesh plug tension-free hernioplasty in elderly ventral hernia. Methods All 207 elderly patients with abdominal hernia who were admitted to our hospital during January 1999 to December 2001 and received the mesh plug tension-free hernioplasty were analyzed retrospectively. Results There were 405 patients receiving the mesh plug tension-free hernioplasty from 1999 to 2001, in whom 207 had elderly ventral hermia. Among the 207 elderly patients, 144 had inguinal oblique hernia, 38 direct hernia, 11 direct and indirect hernia, 6 sliding hernia, 6 incisional hernia, 1 femoral hernia, and 1 femoral and inguinal direct hernia. Postoperative complications were urinary retention(8 cases), hypoincisional hematoma(4), scrotal hydroceles(1), and incisional infection (1). One hundred eithty-seven patients were followed-up for 4-40 months and no recurrence was found. Conclusions The mesh plug tension-free hernioplasty is of advantages for elderly abdominal hernia, such as simpleness in performance and a good therapeutic effect. It is especially suitable for the elderly patients due to less trauma and low recurrence rate. It is also important to pay attention to the postoperative complications to the elderly.