Incisional Hernia Repair Post Liver and or Kidney Transplantation
1Tampa General Hospital, Tampa, FL, 2University of Tampa, Tampa, FL, 3University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
Meeting: 2019 American Transplant Congress
Abstract number: C368
Keywords: Kidney transplantation, Liver transplantation, Outcome, Surgical complications
Session Information
Session Name: Poster Session C: Surgical Issues: All Organs
Session Type: Poster Session
Date: Monday, June 3, 2019
Session Time: 6:00pm-7:00pm
Presentation Time: 6:00pm-7:00pm
Location: Hall C & D
*Purpose: The literature has demonstrated worse patient survival rates with incisional hernias in abdominal transplant patients. The purpose of this study was to evaluate patient survival with incisional hernias in liver and kidney transplant patients with and without repair of the incisional hernias.
*Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of all consecutive liver and kidney transplants performed from 2012 through 2016. The difference across compared groups for continuous variables was assessed using the independent sample t-test and for binary variables using the chi-square test. All p-values were 2-sided and <0.05 was considered to be statistically significant.
*Results: A total of 1,518 transplants were performed, including 1,127 kidney and 391 liver transplants. Post transplant, there were 83 kidney transplant incisional hernias (67 repaired) and 59 liver transplant incisional hernias (48 repaired). Patient demographics demonstrated no significant difference between the incisional hernia repair vs. no repair group with regards to smoking, diabetes, age, BMI, days on dialysis1, pretransplant MELD2, or cold ischemic time. There was no outcome difference in graft survival between the repair and no repair groups. In addition, there was no difference in hernia recurrence by repair method (primary, mesh or biologic). There was a statistically significant difference in days on the waitlist (p=0.02)2, drain placement (p=0.04) 2, CMV mismatch (p=0.02)2, and patient survival for both kidney (p=0.04) and liver ( p=0.01) transplant patients who underwent incisional hernia repair.
1Kidney transplants 2Liver transplants
*Conclusions: Both kidney and liver transplant patients who develop incision hernias have statistically greater overall patient survival when their hernias are surgically repaired regardless of the technique of primary, mesh or biologic. Further investigation is needed to determine if these findings are consistent regardless of other confounding factors.
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
Buggs J, Brando A, Sokolich J, Rogers E, Kumar A, Bowers V. Incisional Hernia Repair Post Liver and or Kidney Transplantation [abstract]. Am J Transplant. 2019; 19 (suppl 3). https://atcmeetingabstracts.com/abstract/incisional-hernia-repair-post-liver-and-or-kidney-transplantation/. Accessed June 24, 2025.« Back to 2019 American Transplant Congress