Single-Center Experience With Parastomal Hernia Repair Using Retromuscular Mesh Placement

Parastomal hernias (PHs) are frequent complications of enterostomies. We aimed to evaluate our outcomes of open PH repair with retromuscular mesh reinforcement.

From 2006 to 2013, 48 parastomal hernias were repaired in 46 consecutive patients undergoing open retromuscular repair. Surgical technique included stoma relocation, retromuscular dissection, posterior component separation, and retromuscular mesh placement. All stomas were prophylactically reinforced with cruciate incisions through mesh. Main outcome measures included demographics, perioperative details, wound complications (classified according to the CDC guidelines), and recurrences.

There were 24 male and 22 female patients with a mean age of 61.8 and body mass index (BMI) of 31.7 kg/m². Twenty-four patients had recurrent PH with an average of 3.8 prior repairs. Ostomies included 18 colostomies, 20 ileostomies, and 10 ileal conduits. Thirty-two patients had a concurrent repair of a midline incisional hernia. All patients underwent mesh repair with either biologic (n = 29), lightweight polypropylene (n = 15), or absorbable synthetic mesh (n = 2). There were 15 superficial surgical site infections (SSIs) and 6 deep SSIs. There was one case of an ischemic ostomy requiring surgical revision. No mesh grafts required removal and there were no mesh erosions. At a mean follow-up time of 13 months, five patients (11 %) developed a recurrence; three patients required re-repair.

In this largest series of complex open repairs with retromuscular mesh reinforcement and stoma relocation, we demonstrate that this results in an effective repair. This technique should be considered for complex parastomal hernia repair.