comparison of abdominal binder use versus no abdominal binder use after ventral abdominal wall hernia repair . A randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Background: Hernia repair is most common surgical procedure in a surgical setting.Ventral hernias are defined as non-inguinal, no hiatal defect in abdominal wall fascia.Abdominal binders are usually recommended in routine after repair of ventral hernias.Abdominal binder is a belt which is wide enough to surrounds the abdominal region and supports the wound. Findings reported in previous studies are better with binders.

Objective: To compare the outcome of binder use versus no abdominal binder use after ventral abdominal wall hernia repair

Material & methods: This Randomized Controlled Trial was done at Department of Surgery, Central Park Teaching Hospital Lahore for 6 months. Sixty patients were included and underwent ventral hernia repair under general anesthesia. Then patients were randomly divided in two groups. Group A for Abdominal Binder and Group B for without Abdominal Binder by using lottery method. During 6 weeks, patients were followed-up in OPD fortnightly. Patient were evaluated for pain, Pulmonary Function Assessment on spirometer, Physical Function Assessment by 6 minutes’ walk test, Seroma formation assessment, wound infection, wound dehiscence and patients satisfaction.Data was analyzed in SPSS version 20.

Results: In this study, the mean age of patients was 42.36±8.52years in binder group while 45.11±10.22years in non-binder group. There were 12 males and 18 females in binder group while 16 males and 14 females in non-binder group. At the end of study, the mean pain score was 0.0±0.0 in binder group while 0.7±0.1 in non-binder group (p<0.05), the mean FEV1 was 90.21±6.39 in binder group while 89.91±12.30 in non-binder group (p>0.05) and the mean 6MWT was 559.49±52.10m in binder group while 514.79±42.39m in non-binder group (p<0.05). Seroma formation occur in 2 (6.7%) cases in binder group while in 8 (26.7%) in non-binder group (p<0.05). Wound infection occurred in 1 (3.3%) in binder group while in 6 (20%) cases of non-binder group (p<0.05) While wound dehiscence was not observed in any case in binder group (0%) but in 2 (6.7%) cases in non-binder group (p>0.05).

Conclusion: Thus results of this study showed that abdominal binder can help to improve the physical condition as well as can well manage wound.