Applying the Swiss Cheese Model to Incisional Hernia Management: Opportunities to Reduce Excess Mortality from Acute Incarceration

Although ventral incisional hernias are common, occurring in up to 20% of patients, acute incarceration is rare. Nonetheless, 2 recent studies using data from more than 30,000 patients with an incisional hernia, treated at a multihospital healthcare system, have demonstrated that acute incarceration is associated with increased mortality.1,2 In the first study, Dadashzadeh and colleagues1 noted that 78% of patients were managed nonoperatively, and the acute incarceration rate was 2.3%. The 30-, 90-, and 365-day all-cause mortality rates were higher for patients with incarceration vs those successfully managed nonoperatively.
Source: Journal of the American College of Surgeons - Category: Surgery Authors: Tags: Invited Commentary Source Type: research