March 1 (UPI) — About one in six people in the United States who undergo hernia repair surgery need to have the procedure again within 10 years due to recurrence, a study published Tuesday by JAMA found.
Among nearly 176,000 Medicare beneficiaries who underwent hernia repair surgery between 2007 and 2018, just over 25,000, or 14%, had to undergo the procedure again within the next 10 years due to a recurrence, the data showed.
Of the included patients who underwent ventral or incisional hernia repair with an “open” procedure, 16% experienced a recurrence and, thus, a second surgery within the ensuing decade, the researchers said.
For those who had minimally invasive surgery, this figure was 19%, according to the researchers.
“I think it’s important to know that for some people hernia can be a chronic, relapsing disease,” study co-author Dr. Dana Telem told UPI in a phone interview.
“But we can lower the risk for that by ensuring that we are performing the right procedure in the right patient at the right time,” said Telem, an associate professor of general surgery at the University of Michigan Medicine in Ann Arbor.
That means taking steps to ensure patients undergoing surgery are address other aspects of their health that increase their risk for hernia recurrence, she said.
This includes encouraging patients to reach and maintain a healthy weight, get chronic health conditions such as diabetes under control and to quit smoking, if applicable, Telem said.
A hernia occurs when an organ, typically the intestines or the bowel, break through the wall of the cavity in which they normally reside as a result of a “weak spot” in the muscle or tissue, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
The most common types of hernias include ventral hernias, or those that occur at any location along the vertical center of the abdomen wall, such as an epigastric or stomach hernia, an umbilical or belly-button hernia or an incisional hernia, develops at the site of a previous surgery, it says.
Hernias cause symptoms such as swelling or a bulge in the groin area, increased pain at the site of the bulge and pain while lifting objects, the Cleveland Clinic says.
In their analysis of Medicare patients who underwent hernia repair over an 11-year period, just over 162,000 had ventral or incisional hernia repair, and more than 13,000 underwent umbilical hernia repair, according to Telem and her colleagues.
Most of the included patients were in their late 60s, and 20% had obesity, meaning they were severely overweight, placing them at higher risk for hernia recurrence, Telem said.
“We know certain things increase the risk for hernia recurrence, like obesity, smoking and poor blood-sugar control,” Telem said.
“The best thing we can do is ‘pre-habilitate’ patients prior to surgery and get them to pay attention to their overall health,” she said.