Emergency treatment of paraesophageal hernias can be carried out through laparotomy or minimally invasive approaches, however, evidence in this regard is weak. The aim of our study was to assess safety and feasibility of the robotic-assisted treatment of paraesophageal hernias in the emergency setting. At the Bellinzona e Valli Regional Hospital, Switzerland, we conducted a retrospective analysis of patients operated on from January 2020 to January 2024 with robotic surgery for emergency presentation of paraesophageal hernias. Demographic and clinical details, operative techniques, and postoperative outcomes were collected and analyzed. Out of 82 patients who underwent robotic-assisted paraesophageal hernia repair, 17 were treated in the emergency setting. Median age was 79 years (IQR 77-85), 3 (17.6%) patients were male, and median BMI was 23.9 kg/m2 (IQR 21.0-26.0). Most frequent presentation symptoms were pain (100%), regurgitation (88.2%), and dyspnea (17.6%). No intraoperative complication, conversion to open surgery or stomach resections were recorded. Two complications of grade 3 according to the Clavien-Dindo classification and one of grade 2 occurred; all were successfully treated until resolution. The median length of hospital stay was 8 days (IQR 5-16). After a mean follow-up of 15.9 months (IQR 6.5-25.6) only two small axial asymptomatic recurrences that required no treatment. Despite limitations, our study demonstrated a very low rate of intra- and postoperative complications, likely supporting the safety and feasibility of robotic-assisted treatment for paraesophageal hernias in emergency settings. Larger studies with a control arm are needed to validate our initial findings.

UNASSIGNED: Surgical repair of paraesophageal hernias (PEHs) is burdened with high recurrence rates, and hitherto various techniques explored to enforce the traditional crural repair have not been successful. The hiatal reconstruction in PEH is exposed to significant tension, which may be minimized by adding a diaphragmatic relaxing incision to enhance the durability of the crural repair.
UNASSIGNED: All individuals undergoing elective laparoscopic repair of a large PEH, irrespective of age, were considered eligible. PEHs were classified into types II-IV. The preoperative work-up program included multidetector computed tomography and symptom assessment questionnaires, which will be repeated during the postoperative follow-up. Patients were randomly divided into a control group with crural repair alone and an intervention group with the addition of a left-sided diaphragmatic relaxing incision at the edge of the upper pole of the spleen. The diaphragmatic defect was then covered by a synthetic mesh.
UNASSIGNED: The primary endpoint of this trial was the rate of anatomical PEH recurrence at 1 year. Secondary endpoints included symptomatic gastroesophageal reflux disease, dysphagia, odynophagia, gas bloat, regurgitation, chest pain, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, postprandial pain, cardiovascular and pulmonary symptoms, and patient satisfaction in the immediate postoperative course (3 months) and at 1 year. Postoperative complications, morbidity, and disease burden were recorded for each patient. This was a double-blind study, meaning that the operation report was filed in a locked archive to keep the patient, staff, and clinical assessors blinded to the study group allocation. Blinding must not be broken during the follow-up unless required by any emergencies in the clinical management of the patient. Likewise, the patients must not be informed about the details of the operation.
UNASSIGNED: ClinicalTrials.gov, identification number NCT04179578.

BACKGROUND: More than half of patients undergoing paraesophageal hernia repair (PEHR) will have radiographic hernia recurrence at 5 years after surgery. Gastropexy is a relatively low-risk intervention that may decrease recurrence rates, but it has not been studied in a prospective manner. Our study aims to evaluate the effect of anterior gastropexy on recurrence rates after PEHR, compared to no anterior gastropexy.
METHODS: This is a two-armed, single-blinded, registry-based, randomized controlled trial comparing anterior gastropexy to no anterior gastropexy in PEHR. Adult patients (≥18 years) with a symptomatic paraesophageal hernia measuring at least 5 cm in height on computed tomography, upper gastrointestinal series, or endoscopy undergoing elective minimally invasive repair are eligible for recruitment. Patients will be blinded to their arm of the trial. All patients will undergo laparoscopic or robotic PEHR, where some operative techniques (crural closure techniques and fundoplication use or avoidance) are left to the discretion of the operating surgeon. During the operation, after closure of the diaphragmatic crura, participants are randomized to receive either no anterior gastropexy (control arm) or anterior gastropexy (treatment arm). Two hundred forty participants will be recruited and followed for 1 year after surgery. The primary outcome is radiographic PEH recurrence at 1 year. Secondary outcomes are symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease, dysphagia, odynophagia, gas bloat, regurgitation, chest pain, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, postprandial pain, cardiovascular, and pulmonary symptoms as well as patient satisfaction in the immediate postoperative period and at 1-year follow-up. Outcome assessors will be blinded to the patients\' intervention.
CONCLUSIONS: This randomized controlled trial will examine the effect of anterior gastropexy on radiographic PEH recurrence and patient-reported outcomes. Anterior gastropexy has a theoretical benefit of decreasing PEH recurrence; however, this has not been proven beyond a suggestion of effectiveness in retrospective series. If anterior gastropexy reduces recurrence rates, it would likely become a routine component of surgical PEH management. If it does not reduce PEH recurrence, it will likely be abandoned.
BACKGROUND: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04007952 . Registered on July 5, 2019.

BACKGROUND: Laparoscopic paraesophageal hernia repair is an effective treatment for symptomatic paraesophageal hernias. To reduce recurrence rates, the use of prosthetics for the crural repair has been suggested. Mesh-related complications are rare but known to be disastrous. To address another form of crural repair, polypropylene strips are suggested. This study aimed to assess peri- and postoperative complications of reinforcement of cruroplasty with polypropylene strips.
METHODS: From 2013 to 2020, patients with a primary or recurrent type 2, 3, or 4 paraesophageal hernia that underwent cruroplasty with polypropylene strips were retrospectively reviewed. Intra- and postoperative complications were graded according to the Clavien-Dindo classification. The incidence of symptomatic recurrent hiatal hernia (CT or endoscopy proven) and hospital stay were assessed.
RESULTS: One hundred fifty-eight patients were included. Mean age was 65 years (standard deviation 10.4), and 119 patients were female (75.3%). Almost 50% of surgeries took place between 2018 and 2020. Median follow-up was 7 months (interquartile range 17.5). Mean operation time in the primary hernia group was 159 min (standard deviation 39.0), and length of stay was 4.4 days. In 3/158 patients (2.0%), intraoperative complications occurred. Two patients developed a grade 4 and seven patients a grade 3 postoperative complication. No mortality was recorded. Twelve recurrences (8.2%) were detected in the primary hernia group and one (9.1%) in the recurrent hernia group.
CONCLUSIONS: There were no mesh-related complications seen and symptomatic recurrence rate was low, but longer follow-up is needed.

Numerous techniques have been historically proposed in the management of gastroesophageal reflux and paraesophageal hernias (PEH). A follow-up study (Quilici et al. in Surg Endosc 23(11):2620-2623, 2009) to a novel laparoscopic approach introduced in 2009 and performed in 49 patients is presented.
All procedures were performed via laparoscopy. Thirty-two patients underwent a Nissen Fundoplication, eleven a reduction of the PEH with a Nissen fundoplication, two without a fundoplication, and four with a Collis-Nissen fundoplication. In all patients, the left hepatic lobe was freed, repositioned, and anchored under and inferior to the gastroesophageal junction, propping the gastroesophageal junction anteriorly. This maneuver entirely covers and closes the diaphragmatic defect.
At the time of laparoscopy, several patients were found not to be suitable candidates for this procedure (morphology of the left hepatic lobe). Forty-nine procedures were completed. One patient was re-explored on POD 2 for a tight hiatus post-Collis fundoplication. Post-operatively, all other patients did well without notable, unusual complaints. The average length of stay was 2.2 days. Although not statistically significant, 43 patients had no recurrence of symptoms with the longest follow-up at 10 years, two patients were lost to follow-up, one patient had a recurrence of the PEH and three patients stated they were experiencing some form of gastroesophageal reflux requiring medical management.
In selected patients, patients with an \"at-risk\" crural closure during a laparoscopic anti-reflux procedure or PEH can safely be managed via a laparoscopic anti-reflux procedure with the hepatic shoulder technique. This technique has shown good early post-operative results and could be used as an alternative to a laparoscopic mesh-reinforced fundoplication in difficult crural closures or in the management of large paraesophageal hernias.

Evaluating giant paraesophageal hernia (GPEH) repair requires long-term follow-up. GPEH repair can have associated high recurrence rates, yet this incidence depends on how recurrence is defined. Our objective was to prospectively evaluate patients undergoing GPEH repair with 1-year follow-up.
Patients undergoing elective GPEH repair between 2011 and 2014 were enrolled prospectively. Postoperatively, patients were evaluated at 1 month and 1 year. Radiographic recurrence was evaluated by barium swallow and defined as a gastroesophageal junction located above the hiatus. Quality of life was evaluated pre- and postoperatively with the use of a validated questionnaire.
One-hundred six patients were enrolled. The majority of GPEH repairs were performed laparoscopically (80.2%), and 7.5% were redo repairs. At 1-year follow-up, 63.4% of patients were symptom free, and radiographic recurrence was 32.7%. Recurrence rate was 18.8% with standard definition (>2 cm of stomach above the diaphragm). Quality of life scores at 1 year were significantly better after operative repair, even in patients with radiographic recurrence (7.0 vs 22.5 all patients, 13.0 vs 22.5 with recurrence; P < .001). Patients with small radiographic recurrences have similar satisfaction and symptom severity to patients with >2 cm recurrences.
GPEH repair can be performed with low operative mortality and morbidity. The rate of recurrence at 1 year depends on the definition used. Patient satisfaction and symptom severity are similar between patients with radiographic and greater than 2 cm hernia recurrences. Longer follow-up and critical assessment of our results are needed to understand the true impact of this procedure and better inform perioperative decision making.