The utility of preoperative computed tomography for urgent abdominal wall hernia repair is unclear. This study tests the hypothesis that there is no difference in patient outcomes for acutely incarcerated ventral or inguinal hernias diagnosed by preoperative computed tomography versus clinical assessment alone.
This retrospective cohort analysis included 270 adult patients undergoing urgent repair of ventral or inguinal hernia. Demographics, risk factors for complications, operative management strategies, and 1-year outcomes were compared between patients with (n = 179) versus without (n = 91) preoperative computed tomography.
Among 179 preoperative computed tomography scans, 15 (8.4%) were ordered by surgeons, and all others were ordered by referring providers. The computed tomography and no computed tomography groups had similar age (58 vs 58 years, P = .77), body mass index (30.7 vs 30.6 kg/m, P = .30), American Society of Anesthesiologists class (3.0 vs 3.0, P = .39), incidence of the systemic inflammatory response syndrome (19.0% vs 20.9%, P = .75), and incidence of recurrent hernia (16.8% vs 19.8%, P = .61). The interval between admission and incision was longer in the computed tomography group (11.2 hours vs 6.6 hours, P < .001). The computed tomography and no computed tomography groups had similar duration of surgery (125 minutes in both groups, P = .88), proportions of patients with biologic mesh (21.2% vs 17.6%, P = .52) and synthetic mesh (35.2% vs 46.2%, P = .09) placement, and 1-year outcomes including incidence of superficial (8.4% vs 6.6%, P = .81) and deep or organ/space surgical site infection (5.0% vs 6.6%, P = .59), mesh explant for infection (2.2% vs 3.3%, P = .69), reoperation for recurrent hernia (3.9% vs 1.1%, P = .27), and mortality (7.8% vs 4.4%, P = .44).
The performance of preoperative computed tomography was associated with a longer interval between admission and incision and no differences in mesh placement, mesh type, or 1-year patient outcomes. These results support the safety of performing urgent repair of acutely incarcerated ventral or inguinal hernias based on clinical assessment alone.

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