All abdominal wall reconstructions find themselves on a scale, varying between simple to highly complex procedures. The level of complexity depends on many factors that are divided into patient comorbidities, hernia characteristics, and wound characteristics. Preoperative identification of modifiable risk factors provides the opportunity for patient optimization. Because this so called prehabilitation greatly improves postoperative outcome, reconstructive surgery should not be scheduled before all modifiable risk factors are optimized to a point where no further improvement can be expected. In this review, we discuss the importance of preoperative risk factor recognition, identify modifiable risk factors, and utilize options for patient prehabilitation, all aiming to improve postoperative outcome and therewith long-term success of the reconstruction.

While cancer cure is the primary goal, fertility preservation is also a cornerstone of the underlying principle of treatment for ovarian germ cell tumors. Growing teratoma syndrome (GTS) presents with growth of mature teratomas during or after chemotherapy. We report a case of successful treatment of GTS in the anterior abdominal wall involving reconstruction. A 23-year-old woman with a suspected right ovarian mature teratoma with torsion underwent emergency laparoscopically assisted extracorporeal ovarian cystectomy. Histopathological findings revealed a grade 1 immature teratoma. After two months, postoperative α-fetoprotein (AFP) levels increased, and disseminated lesions developed not only in the pelvic cavity but also in the abdominal wound where the tumor had been extracted using an extracorporeal technique at the time of primary surgery. The patient underwent laparoscopic right salpingo-oophorectomy, excision of multiple peritoneal nodules, and biopsy of abdominal wall mass. The left rectus abdominis muscle tumor could not be removed. All of these nodules were diagnosed as metastatic immature teratomas. Although the patient received three cycles of chemotherapy, the residual tumor in the abdominal wall grew remarkably despite post-chemotherapy normalization of AFP levels. Both rectus abdominis muscles involving the residual tumors were removed and reconstructed using a left tensor fascia lata muscle flap. Histopathologically, the residual tumors were identified as mature teratomas with no immature elements, resulting in GTS. The patient got pregnant without the need of fertility treatment and gave birth uneventfully by cesarean section. Thus, reconstruction with a tensor fascia lata muscle flap facilitated complete removal of GTS while preserving fertility.

Ventral hernia repair is one of the most commonly performed surgical procedures worldwide. To reduce the risk of complications, patient prehabilitation has received increasing focus in recent years. To assess prehabilitation measures, this European Hernia Society endorsed project was launched. The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the current literature on patient prehabilitation prior to ventral hernia repair.
The strategies examined were optimization of renal disease, obesity, nutrition, physical exercise, COPD, diabetes and smoking cessation. For each topic, a separate literature search was conducted, allowing for seven different sub-reviews.
A limited amount of well-conducted research studies evaluating prehabilitation prior to ventral hernia surgery was found. The primary findings showed that smoking cessation and weight loss for obese patients led to reduced risks of complications after abdominal wall reconstruction.
Prehabilitation prior to ventral hernia repair may be widely used; however, the literature supporting its use is limited. Future studies evaluating the impact of prehabilitation before ventral hernia surgery are warranted.

BACKGROUND: Indocyanine green fluorescence angiography (ICGFA) is a technique for assessing vascularity and perfusion which has multiple proven applications across a variety of surgical procedures. Studies have been performed assessing its potential role in evaluating skin flap viability in complex abdominal wall reconstruction (CAWR) in order to avoid postoperative surgical site occurrences (SSO).
OBJECTIVE: This scoping review was intended to summarise the literature concerning ICGFA in CAWR in order to facilitate future evidence-based guidelines for its use.
UNASSIGNED: Inclusion - cohort studies, randomised controlled trials, case series, case reports and ventral midline hernias only. Exclusion - patients aged under 18 years and non-human test subjects.
UNASSIGNED: PubMed, MEDLINE®, Cochrane, Embase and OpenGrey RESULTS: A total of 3416 unique titles were yielded from our search of which 9 met our inclusion criteria: 3 case reports, 1 retrospective case series, 1 prospective case series, 3 non-blinded, non-randomised retrospective case-controlled studies and 1 prospective, double-blinded randomised controlled study. The included studies varied considerably in size and method however the consensus appeared to support ICGFA as being a safe and feasible means of assessing tissue flap vascularity in CAWR. The studies returned contrasting results regarding the impact of ICGFA in predicting and avoiding SSOs however there were insufficient numbers of studies for a meta-analysis.
CONCLUSIONS: We identify three case reports and four lower quality studies suggesting a possible application for ICGFA in CAWR and two higher quality studies showing no overall benefit. Evidence-based guidelines on the role of ICGFA in CAWR will require the assessment of further studies.

OBJECTIVE: To systematically review technical aspects and treatment regimens of botulinum toxin A (BTA) injections in the lateral abdominal wall musculature. We also investigated the effect of BTA on abdominal muscle- and hernia dimensions, and clinical outcome.
METHODS: PubMed, EMBASE, CENTRAL, and CINAHL were searched for studies that investigate the injection of BTA in the lateral abdominal wall muscles. Study characteristics, BTA treatment regimens, surgical procedures, and clinical outcomes are presented descriptively. The effect of BTA on muscle- and hernia dimensions is analyzed using random-effects meta-analyses, and exclusively for studies that investigate ventral incisional hernia patients.
RESULTS: We identified 23 studies, comprising 995 patients. Generally, either 500 units of Dysport® or 200-300 units of Botox® are injected at 3-5 locations bilaterally in all three muscles of the lateral abdominal wall, about 4 weeks prior to surgery. No major procedural complications are reported. Meta-analyses show that BTA provides significant elongation of the lateral abdominal wall of 3.2 cm per side (95% CI 2.0-4.3, I2 = 0%, p < 0.001); 6.3 cm total elongation, and a significant but heterogeneous decrease in transverse hernia width (95% CI 0.2-6.8, I2 = 94%, p = 0.04). Furthermore, meta-analysis shows that BTA pretreatment in ventral hernia patients significantly increases the fascial closure rate [RR 1.08 (95% CI 1.02-1.16, I2 = 0%, p = 0.02)].
CONCLUSIONS: The injection technique and treatment regimens of botulinum toxin A as well as patient selection require standardization. Bilateral pretreatment in hernia patients significantly elongates the lateral abdominal wall muscles, making fascial closure during surgical hernia repair more likely.
BACKGROUND: A review protocol for this meta-analysis was registered at PROSPERO (CRD42020198246).

BACKGROUND: Two main trends are described for the treatment of diastasis recti: plication versus midline mesh reinforcement. Indications for these procedures have not been clearly described. This study reviewed the outcomes in the treatment of rectus diastasis with plication versus mesh by the assessment of durability, complications, and patient-reported outcomes.
METHODS: A systematic review of literature on the treatment of diastasis recti was performed searching through PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane databases. This resulted in 53 eligible articles and predefined inclusion criteria led to the selection of 24 articles. Primary outcomes included recurrence and perioperative complications and secondary outcomes were defined as patient satisfaction, chronic pain, and quality of life.
RESULTS: A total of 931 patients were surgically treated for rectus divarication (age range: 18 - 70 years). The most frequently noted comorbidity was obesity and 10.6 percent were smokers. Recurrence was reported in 5 percent of the patients. The most frequent complication was seroma (7 percent), followed by abdominal hypoesthesia (6 percent), and surgical site infection (2 percent). Chronic pain was reported in 4 percent of the patients. Satisfaction was assessed subjectively in the majority of patients and was generally rated as high. Follow-up period ranged from 3 weeks to 20 years.
CONCLUSIONS: Durability, safety, and high patient satisfaction support surgical correction of rectus diastasis and could not favor a treatment method. Inter-rectus distance could not be identified as the indicator for technique, which emphasizes that other factors might add to the entity of abdominal wall protrusion more than previously thought.

Although many studies assessing enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) pathways in abdominal wall reconstruction (AWR) have recently demonstrated lower rates of postoperative morbidity and a decrease in postoperative length of stay compared to standard practice, the utility of ERAS in AWR remains largely unknown.
A systematic literature search for randomized and non-randomized studies comparing ERAS (ERAS +) pathways and standard protocols (Control) as an adopted practice for patients undergoing AWR was performed using MEDLINE, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Scopus, Web of Science, and EMBASE databases. A predefined search strategy was implemented. The included studies were reviewed for primary outcomes: overall postoperative morbidity, abdominal wall morbidity, surgical site infection (SSI), and length of hospital stay; and for secondary outcome: operative time, estimated blood loss, time to discontinuation of narcotics, time to urinary catheter removal, time to return to bowel function, time to return to regular diet, and readmission rate. Standardized mean difference (SMD) was calculated for continuous variables and Odds Ratio for dichotomous variables.
Five non-randomized studies were included for qualitative and quantitative synthesis. 840 patients were allocated to either ERAS + (382) or Control (458). ERAS + and Control groups showed equivalent results with regard to the incidence of postoperative morbidity (OR 0.73, 95% CI 0.32-1.63; I2= 76%), SSI (OR 1.17, 95% CI 0.43-3.22; I2= 54%), time to return to bowel function (SMD - 2.57, 95% CI - 5.32 to 0.17; I2= 99%), time to discontinuation of narcotics (SMD - 0.61, 95% CI - 1.81 to 0.59; I2= 97%), time to urinary catheter removal (SMD - 2.77, 95% CI - 6.05 to 0.51; I2= 99%), time to return to regular diet (SMD - 0.77, 95% CI - 2.29 to 0.74; I2= 98%), and readmission rate (OR 0.82, 95% CI 0.52-1.27; I2= 49%). Length of hospital stay was significantly shorter in the ERAS + compared to the Control group (SMD - 0.93, 95% CI - 1.84 to - 0.02; I2= 97%).
The introduction of an ERAS pathway into the clinical practice for patients undergoing AWR may cause a decreased length of hospitalization. These results should be interpreted with caution, due to the low level of evidence and the high heterogeneity.

Transversus abdominis release (TAR) is a relatively recent surgical technique for ventral hernia repair which allows placement of a large prosthesis in the retro-muscular plane with considerable myofascial medialization. A retrospective review of 100 cases who underwent TAR for complex ventral hernias was performed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of TAR in a series of large ventral hernias.
Between March 2016 and May 2019, 100 consecutive patients who underwent open TAR were identified from our prospectively maintained database. A retrospective review was performed to analyze patient demographics, peri-operative events, adverse outcomes and recurrence.
12 primary and 88 incisional hernia cases underwent TAR with prosthetic mesh repair during the study period. Mean age was 52.5 years, mean BMI was 30.87 kgs/m2, mean ASA class 1.95. In our series, 41% were diabetic, 11% had COPD. All patients underwent preoperative CT scans. The mean defect was 140.18 cm2. Average mesh area was 1344 cm2. Average blood loss was 245 mL. Defects were bridged in 19% cases despite bilateral component separation. Readmission rate at 1 month was 3%, for wound complications. We recorded 9 surgical site infections, 17 surgical site occurrences, 10 of which needed procedural interventions. We recorded no recurrences at a mean follow-up duration of 20.2 months.
Our early results with TAR are encouraging. We have demonstrated that the repair allows anatomical reconstruction with a large sublay mesh while inflicting minimal morbidity. TAR can be a valuable tool in complex ventral hernia repair.

There is strong evidence suggesting that excessive fat distribution, for example, in the bowel mesentery or a reduction in lean body mass (sarcopenia) can influence short-, mid-, and long-term outcomes from patients undergoing various types of surgery. Body composition (BC) analysis aims to measure and quantify this into a parameter that can be used to assess patients being treated for abdominal wall hernia (AWH). This study aims to review the evidence linking quantification of BC with short- and long-term abdominal wall hernia repair outcomes.
A systematic review was performed according to the PRISMA guidelines. The literature search was performed on all studies that included BC analysis in patients undergoing treatment for AWH using Medline, Google Scholar and Cochrane databases by two independent reviewers. Outcomes of interest included short-term recovery, recurrence outcomes, and long-term data.
201 studies were identified, of which 4 met the inclusion criteria. None of the studies were randomized controlled trials and all were cohort studies. There was considerable variability in the landmark axial levels and skeletal muscle(s) chosen for analysis, alongside the methods of measuring the cross-sectional area and the parameters used to define sarcopenia. Only two studies identified an increased risk of postoperative complications associated with the presence of sarcopenia. This included an increased risk of hernia recurrence, postoperative ileus and prolonged hospitalisation.
There is some evidence to suggest that BC techniques could be used to help predict surgical outcomes and allow early optimisation in AWH patients. However, the lack of consistency in chosen methodology, combined with the outdated definitions of sarcopenia, makes drawing any conclusions difficult. Whether body composition modification can be used to improve outcomes remains to be determined.

Posterior component separation with transversus abdominis release and implantation of synthetic mesh in the retromuscular space is a durable type of repair for many large incisional hernias with recurrence rates consistently less than 10%. The purported advantage of biologic prostheses in contaminated fields has recently been challenged, and the concern for placing synthetic mesh in contaminated fields may be overstated. There are almost no data specifically addressing the use of this type of repair for chronic incisional hernias in trauma and emergency general surgery patients, so research is needed on this patient population. In this review, a case of a trauma patient receiving posterior component separation with transversus abdominis release and implantation of synthetic mesh for a chronic incisional hernia resulting from a gunshot wound to the abdomen is presented, the technique is explained, and relevant literature is reviewed.