Laparoscopic Modified Keyhole Technique with Coated Polyester Mesh for Treatment of Parastomal Hernia: Measures for Improving the Outcome

Purpose: Although the modified Sugarbaker technique gives good results for the treatment of parastomal hernia (PH), there are other valid options for the treatment of this frequent complication. In our practice, the laparoscopic keyhole (KH) technique, with some specific modifications, can give similar results. Materials and Methods: We collected data on all the patients with symptomatic PHs who underwent surgical repair between January 2002 and December 2017 in our surgical department. The primary endpoint was to evaluate the recurrence rate after at least 1 year, determined on the basis of physical examination during follow-up and on postprocedure radiological results. Results: Ninety patients were treated with the KH technique. The stomas that were treated were 83 end colostomies and 7 ileal ureterostomies. Eighty-eight patients were treated with polyester mesh (Parietex™, Medtronic, Ireland) and 2 with a composite mesh (Physiomesh™, Ethicon). Patients had median follow-up period of 1 year. Seroma occurred in 4 patients, who were treated conservatively by clinical monitoring. Four patients had a recurrence: 1 occurred on the seventh postoperative day, due to a technical error; 1 after 6 months, due to the partial shrinkage of the mesh into the defect; the third after 1 year, but it occurred at the beginning of our experience, and the last recurrence was after 3 years in a patient who gained 15 kg after the procedure. Conclusions: If a few precautionary steps are added to the original technique, laparoscopic KH repair is feasible and safe, giving good results in terms of complications and recurrence rates.