One in Six Older Patients Have Reoperation for Hernia Recurrence

TUESDAY, March 8, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- One in six older patients having hernia surgery undergo reoperation for recurrence within 10 years, according to a research letter published in the March 1 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Ryan Howard, M.D., from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and colleagues used fee-for-service Medicare claims data to estimate the long-term incidence of operative hernia recurrence among older adults undergoing elective, inpatient, ventral or incisional (162,292 patients) and umbilical (13,443 patients) hernia repair from 2007 through 2018 (median follow-up, 5.3 years).

The researchers found that 14.3 percent of patients underwent reoperation for hernia recurrence, with an adjusted cumulative incidence of reoperation for recurrence of 16.1 percent at 10 years after surgery. For ventral or incisional hernia repair, the 10-year adjusted cumulative incidence of reoperation for recurrence was 16 percent following open repair and 18.8 percent following minimally invasive repair. For umbilical hernia repair, the 10-year adjusted cumulative incidence of reoperation for recurrence was 12.3 percent after open repair and 14.5 percent following minimally invasive repair. The authors believe the study likely underestimated the incidence of clinical hernia recurrence because not all patients with recurrence undergo reoperation.

"Compared with historical 10-year reoperation rates of approximately one in five patients, these results suggest that outcomes have only marginally improved," the authors write.

One author disclosed financial ties to the medical technology industry.

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