Early- Versus Late-Onset Prosthetic Mesh Infection: More than Time Alone

Prosthetic mesh used for ventral incisional hernia makes hernia repair surgery simple, effective, and safe. The mesh infection is a formidable complication and bimodal distribution. The differences between early- and late-onset are unknown. This is a cohort study of patients undergoing ventral incisional hernia (VIH) repair from January 2003 to September 2013. Data of specific risk variables were collected from electronic medical record systems in Jinling Hospital. And, the quality of lives was evaluated by WHO Quality of Life-BREF. A total of 102 VIH repair patients were analyzed and followed including the noninfection group and early- and late-onset group. There were significant differences between the early- and late-onset group in clinical manifestation, descriptive analysis of the study population, and postoperative quality of lives. These differences might imply the different pathophysiologic process of early- and late-onset mesh infection. Permanent prosthetic mesh should be used with caution, and the study of intraperitoneal onlay mesh is still needed in long-term follow-up.