Comparison of Incisional Hernias with Other Type of Abdominal Hernias in Terms of Predisposant Factors

Objective: Incisional hernia (IH) is one of the most common late complications of abdominal surgery. Factors such as wound infection, type of incision, wound closure technique, and suture material used as well as patient-related factors such as age, gender, body mass index (BMI), diabetes mellitus (DM), and smoking are also involved in the development of IH and other types of abdominal hernias (OTAH). In this article, we aimed to compare the predisposing factors for IH and OTAH. Methods: We analyzed predisposing factors for IH and OTAH among 130 patients undergoing surgery for abdominal hernia between January 2015 and December 2018 at the Department of General Surgery of Gulhane Training and Research Hospital. Results: The female/male ratio was 28/102, the mean age of the patients was 58.6 years, and the mean BMI was 29.3 kg. The prevalence of DM and smoking was also evaluated. The rate of drain application was 56.2% and 4.1%, and the duration of hospitalization was 8.6 and 5.3 days in the IH and OTAH groups, respectively. Conclusion: We found male gender to be a dominant risk factor for OTAH and high BMI to be dominant for IH. Age, DM, and smoking were equivalent risk factors for both. Drain application for IH was statistically significant high and resulted in prolonged hospitalization. These results provide evidence for an important complication of DM and obesity and also conclude that obesity is a major risk factor for IH. Keywords: Abdominal hernia, diabetes mellitus, herniorrhaphy, incisional hernia, obesity