Prophylactic nonabsorbable mesh augmentation reduces the risk of incisional ventral hernia following midline laparotomy

Abdominal core health (ACH) is an emergent concept characterizing the integrity of abdomfunction of these 4 ACH components decreases patients' quality of life (QOL) through affecting their abilities to perform basic routine daily physical activities: sitting up, running, coughing, urinating, defecating etc. Among clinical conditions that decrease ACH, incisional ventral hernia is the most common one. Incisional ventral hernia (IVH) refers to a short and long -term surgical complication, in which a portion of the abdominal wall has a defect after a surgical procedure. The reported prevalence of IVH across all surgical disciplines ranges from 10% in elective general surgery patients to up to 50% in high-risk patients after abdominal surgery. 1-4 The direct healthcare costs associated with primary treatment of IVH are substantial. In 2006, direct costs alone were estimated to be $15,899 and $3,873 for inpatient and outpatient elective hernia repairs respectively, with an estimated total nationwide cost of ventral hernia repair of $3.2 billion USD. 5 Thus, even a 1% reduction in annual IVH incidence could offer as much as $32 million An ideal abdominal closure technique for IVH prevention is an ongoing subject of investigation. Factors associated with failure of abdominal wall closure are multiple. These include