Perspectives of prevention and treatment of parastomal hernia-what do we really know and where should we go?

Parastomal hernia is a frequent complication after ostomy formation, causing a significant reduction of the quality of life of patients. In contrast to surgical dogmas dealing with the surgical technique of ostomy formation, meshbased prophylaxis of parastomal hernia seemed to be effective, leading to the strong recommendation in the European Hernia Society(EHS) guidelines. More recent studies do not favor prophylaxis of parastomal hernia anymore, mainly due to the lack of clearly differentiating the techniques. The mostly used keyhole technique (flat mesh) cannot be equated with the "chimney technique" (3-dimensional mesh) that can be easily performed laparoscopically. Very recent results of the Finnish Randomized Study showed a dramatic reduction of parastomal hernia using the chimney technique. Concerning therapy of parastomal hernia, the chimney technique was also revealed to be effective. The laparoscopic "sandwich technique" should also be used therapeutically with very promising mid- and long-term results and seems to be superior to any other approaches. In a conclusion, investigating the prevention of parastomal hernia should clearly differentiate between the keyhole and chimney techniques and adopt strict technical standardization. Therapy of parastomal hernia should be based on the most effective sandwich or the chimney technique in specialized centers, according to recent registry results. Both techniques are based on the intraperitoneal placement of meshes requiring 3-dimensionality or the possibility of overlapping two meshes. Up to now, these requirements are only fulfilled by meshes made by polyvinylidene fluoride.