Total endoscopic sublay mesh repair for umbilical hernias

Umbilical hernias constitute some of the most common surgical diseases addressed by surgeons. Endoscopic techniques have become standard of care together with the conventional open techniques for the treatment of umbilical hernias. Several different approaches were described to achieve laparoscopic sublay repair. We prospectively collected and reviewed the medical records of 10 patients with umbilical hernias underwent total endoscopic sublay repair (TES) at our institution from November 2017 to November 2019. All operations were performed by a same surgical team. The demographics, intraoperative details, and postoperative complications were evaluated. All TES procedures were successfully performed without conversion to an open operation. No intraoperative morbidity was encountered. The average operative time was 109.5 minutes (range, 80–140 minutes). All the patients resumed an oral diet within 6 hours after the intervention. The mean time to ambulation was 7.5 hours (range, 4–14 hours), and mean postoperative hospital stay was 2.2 day (range, 1–4 days). One patient developed postoperative seroma. No wound complications, chronic pain, or recurrence were registered during the follow-up. Initial experiences with this technique show that the TES is a safe, and effective procedure for the treatment of umbilical hernias.