Laparoscopic tension-free repair of giant low abdominal wall incisional hernia

  The patient, a 71-year-old female, was treated with emergency surgery for left ovarian cyst torsion 1 year ago. 1 month after surgery, a reproducible mass below the original wound appeared and gradually increased in size, and she was seen at several hospitals, but was not treated surgically because of the large extent of the low abdominal wall incisional hernia.  After a comprehensive evaluation of the patient’s advanced age, huge low incisional hernia (15*11 cm), and poor cardiopulmonary function, we considered that the lower edge of the hernia ring was close to the pubic symphysis and near the bladder, and the patch fixation needed to extend at least 5 cm beyond the edge of the hernia ring to effectively prevent postoperative hernia recurrence. Since the hernia ring is very close to the bladder, it is difficult to fix the patch by conventional methods, and if the patch is fixed directly, it may damage the bladder; if the patch is covered on the bladder and then fixed on the pubic comb ligament, it may cause the patient to be unable to hold urine after surgery, resulting in frequent and urgent urination. Therefore, the operation requires incision of the peritoneum, freeing the pubic space of the bladder, and placing the patch in front of the bladder and fixing it to the pubic comb ligament in order to effectively avoid postoperative recurrence without affecting the patient’s postoperative urinary function. It was decided to use the advantages of laparoscopic technique to precisely separate the bowel tube adhering to the hernia sac and dissect the pubic space of the bladder, and to use open surgical technique to completely remove the original surgical scar and the hernia sac to avoid postoperative fluid accumulation. The patient underwent laparoscopic tension-free repair of a giant low laparotomy hernia (hybrid technique) recently, and the repair of the giant low laparotomy hernia was successfully completed according to the preoperative plan with complete excision of the hernia sac and the original surgical scar.  Due to the patient’s advanced age and poor ability to tolerate surgery, the patient developed a series of emergencies such as unstable blood pressure, low oxygen saturation, oliguria, breath-holding, dizziness and headache in the afternoon of the same postoperative day. The patient’s condition was quickly analyzed and the patient was considered to be in a postoperative stress state. After emergency treatment, the patient’s condition was rapidly relieved and turned to safety, and now the patient has been cured and discharged.