For a study, the researchers sought to quantify the risk of incisional hernias incarceration. From 2010 to 2017, 15 hospitals in a single healthcare system did a retrospective review of adult patients having an International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, or Tenth Revision diagnosis of incisional hernia. The main result was incarceration, which necessitated an emergency operation. The 30-, 90-, and 365-day death rates were used as a secondary outcome. To find independent determinants of incarceration, investigators employed univariate and multivariate analyses. 23,022 (78.1%) of 30,998 patients with an incisional hernia (mean age 58.1±15.9 years; 52.7% female) underwent NOM, with 540 (2.3%) of those incarcerated, providing a 1- and 5-year cumulative incidence of 1.24% and 2.59%, respectively. Age over 40, female sex, current smoker, BMI of 30 or above, and a hernia-related inpatient admission were all independent variables linked to incarceration. At 30, 90, and 365 days, all-cause mortality rates in the incarcerated group were 7.2%, 10%, and 14%, respectively, compared to 1.1%, 2.3%, and 5.3% in patients who underwent successful NOM. Although incarceration was a rare complication of NOM, it was linked to a high risk of death. Customized decision-making for elective repair while considering the aforementioned imprisonment risk variables was a first step in reducing the excess morbidity and death associated with incarceration.
