Outcomes of Emergency Abdominal Wall Hernia Repair: Experience Over a Decade

Background Abdominal wall hernias are a common surgical entity encountered by the general surgeon. Approximately 10% of abdominal wall hernia patients require emergency surgery. However, these surgeries are associated with a high rate of postoperative morbidity and mortality. This study aimed to analyze the morbidity and mortality in patients undergoing emergency abdominal wall hernia repair and to determine the factors associated with surgical site infection (SSI) and recurrence in these patients attending a tertiary care hospital in south India. Methodology Our study was a single-centered, 10-year retrospective and a one-year prospective study conducted in a tertiary care center in India. All patients who underwent emergency abdominal wall hernia repair between April 2009 and May 2020 were included. Patients' demographic details, comorbidities, intraoperative findings, 30-day surgical outcomes including SSI, and recurrence were studied. Results Out of 383 patients in our study, 63.9% had an inguinal hernia, and 54% of the patients underwent tissue repair. SSI was the most common morbidity (21.9%). Postoperative sepsis was the only independent factor associated with perioperative mortality according to the logistic regression analysis (odds ratio - 22.73, p = 0.022). Conclusions Tissue repair for emergency hernia surgery has better outcomes than mesh repair in clean-contaminated cases.