Ventral Hernia Repair Using Ventralex? ST Patch: A Single-Center Study of Clinical Outcomes and Complications

Background Ventralex (R) ST (Bard Davol Inc, Warwick, RI) patch is a composite self-expanding and non-absorbable mesh used to reinforce ventral hernia repair. This study was conducted to assess the efficacy, post-operative clinical outcomes, the duration of operation, and complications deciding the post-operative duration/need of hospitalization in patients of small ventral hernia after their open surgical repair using Ventralex ST hernia patch. Materials and methods We included 36 patients diagnosed with a small (<2 cm defect size) ventral hernia who underwent open mesh repair following strict surgical methodology using Ventralex (R) ST hernia patch between September 2018 and April 2020. It was a prospective observational study. Clinically relevant characteristics, along with operative and post-operative data collected through direct interview, clinical examination, and a pretested proforma, were analyzed prospectively.Results Thirty-four patients (94.5%) were observed to have an operative time of fewer than 60 minutes, with an average duration of 30-40 minutes. Thirty-one patients (86%) were discharged within 48 hours of surgery, out of which 17 patients (47.2%) were discharged within 24 hours of surgery and 14 patients (38.8%) within 48 hours. Only five patients (13.88%) had a prolonged hospital stay for more than 48 hours due to post-operative complications. Three patients (8.33%) acquired post-surgical wound infection, whereas two (5.55%) developed seroma. Nevertheless, just one patient (2.7%) reportedly developed both infection and seroma after surgery. No cases of mesh infection or recurrences were noted.Conclusion This study demonstrates that open repair of small (<2 cm defect size) ventral hernia using the Ventralex (R) ST hernia patch can be an extremely safe and effective method. Furthermore, it has excellent clinical outcomes when meticulously used with an easily reproducible surgical technique, which requires less intra-operative time, has minimal post-operative complications and negligible recurrence rate, along with reduced post-op hospital stay (86% of patients being discharged within 48 hours).